SAILORS' KNOTS

By W.W. Jacobs


1909



"THE TOLL-HOUSE"


"It's all nonsense," said Jack Barnes. "Of course people have died in the
house; people die in every house. As for the noises--wind in the chimney
and rats in the wainscot are very convincing to a nervous man. Give me
another cup of tea, Meagle."

"Lester and White are first," said Meagle, who was presiding at the
tea-table of the Three Feathers Inn. "You've had two."

Lester and White finished their cups with irritating slowness, pausing
between sips to sniff the aroma, and to discover the sex and dates of
arrival of the "strangers" which floated in some numbers in the beverage.
Mr. Meagle served them to the brim, and then, turning to the grimly
expectant Mr. Barnes, blandly requested him to ring for hot water.

"We'll try and keep your nerves in their present healthy condition," he
remarked. "For my part I have a sort of half-and-half belief in the
super-natural."