"Please, sir," answered Kennedy and Jacobs in one breath, "it's the
ghost!"

"The ghost! What ghost? What d'you mean?"

The two "Main-top" men began a hasty account of the cause of their
sudden fright, taking care, however, to make no mention of the three
hostile visitors who had shared in the surprise.

Mr. Blake listened to their story in silence, then all at once he burst
out laughing, and without a word turned on his heel and went quickly
upstairs. He entered the attic, and in about half a minute they heard
him coming back.

"Ha, ha! I've got your ghost; I've been trying to lay him for some time
past."

The jingle of a chain was distinctly audible; Mr. Blake was evidently
bringing the spectre down in his arms! Diggory and Vance could no
longer restrain their curiosity; they hopped out of bed and glanced
round the corner of the door. The master held in his hand a rusty old
gin, the iron jaws of which were tightly closed upon the body of an
enormous rat.

"There's a monster for you!" he said; "I think it's the biggest I ever
saw. He'd carried the trap, chain and all, right across the room, but
that finished him; he was as dead as a stone when I picked him up.
Now get back to bed; I should think you're both nearly frozen."

Diggory and Jack Vance followed the advice given to Kennedy and Jacobs,