"I promised my uncle to hold my tongue. But now--"
"You will tell me all. My dear fellow, make a clean breast of
it."
"Rest easy, you shall learn everything. You know that the
house at the back of Rose Cottage has been deserted for
something like twenty years more or less."
"Yes. You told me about it the other night."
"Caranby ran a fifteen-feet wall round it and the inside is a
regular jungle. Well, the house is supposed to be haunted.
Lights have been seen moving about and strange noises have
been heard."
"What kind of noises?"
"Oh, moans and clanking chains and all that sort of thing. I
heard indirectly about this, through Juliet."
"Where did she hear the report?"
"From Miss Loach's cook. A woman called Pill. The cook
asserted that the house was haunted, and described the noises
and the lights. I don't believe in spooks myself, and thought
some tricks were being played, so one day I went down and had
a look."
"That day I was there?" asked Jennings, recalling Cuthbert's
presence.
"Before that--a week or two. I saw nothing. The house is
rotting and nothing appeared to be disturbed. I examined the
park and found no footmarks. In fact, there wasn't a sign of
anyone about."
"You should have gone at night when the ghost was larking."
"That's what Caranby said. I told him when he came back to
London. He was very annoyed. You know his romance about that
house--an absurd thing it is.
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