memories of strange historic things rose vividly in my mind; but
midnight chimed solemnly from a seven-foot clock, and nothing
happened. My imagination would not be hurried, and the chill that
is with the small hours had come upon me, and I had nearly abandoned
myself to sleep, when in the hall adjoining there arose the rustling
of silk dresses that I had waited for and expected. Then there
entered two by two the high-born ladies and their gallants of
Jacobean times. They were little more than shadows--very
dignified shadows, and almost indistinct; but you have all read
ghost stories before, you have all seen in museums the dresses of
those times--there is little need to describe them; they entered,
several of them, and sat down on the old chairs, perhaps a little
carelessly considering the value of the tapestries. Then the
rustling of their dresses ceased.

Well--I had seen ghosts, and was neither frightened nor convinced
that ghosts existed. I was about to get up out of my chair and go
to bed, when there came a sound of pattering in the hall, a sound of
bare feet coming over the polished floor, and every now and then a
foot would slip and I heard claws scratching along the wood as some
four-footed thing lost and regained its balance. I was not
frightened, but uneasy. The pattering came straight towards the
room that I was in, then I heard the sniffing of expectant nostrils;
perhaps 'uneasy' was not the most suitable word to describe my
feelings then. Suddenly a herd of black creatures larger than
bloodhounds came galloping in; they had large pendulous ears, their
noses were to the ground sniffing, they went up to the lords and
ladies of long ago and fawned about them disgustingly. Their eyes
were horribly bright, and ran down to great depths. When I looked
into them I knew suddenly what these creatures were, and I was