Meagle laughed. "I only wanted to convince you," he said kindly. "There
ought to be, at any rate, one ghost in the servants' hall."

Barnes held up his hand for silence.

"Yes?" said Meagle with a grin at the other two. "Is anybody coming?"

"Suppose we drop this game and go back," said Barnes suddenly. "I don't
believe in spirits, but nerves are outside anybody's command. You may
laugh as you like, but it really seemed to me that I heard a door open
below and steps on the stairs."

His voice was drowned in a roar of laughter.

"He is coming round," said Meagle with a smirk. "By the time I have done
with him he will be a confirmed believer. Well, who will go and get some
water? Will you, Barnes?"

"No," was the reply.

"If there is any it might not be safe to drink after all these years,"
said Lester. "We must do without it."

Meagle nodded, and taking a seat on the floor held out his hand for the
cup. Pipes were lit and the clean, wholesome smell of tobacco filled the
room. White produced a pack of cards; talk and laughter rang through the
room and died away reluctantly in distant corridors.

"Empty rooms always delude me into the belief that I possess a deep