Mine host saw it was time to interfere. He had maintained an air of
Gravity through the whole of the scene, and now stepped forth as if to
shelter me from the overwhelming merriment of my companions.

"Gentlemen," said he, "I dislike to spoil sport, but you have had your
laugh, and the joke of the haunted chamber has been enjoyed. I must now
take the part of my guest. I must not only vindicate him from your
pleasantries, but I must reconcile him to himself, for I suspect he is
a little out of humor with his own feelings; and above all, I must
crave his pardon for having made him the subject of a kind of
experiment.

"Yes, gentlemen, there is something strange and peculiar in the chamber
to which our friend was shown last night. There is a picture which
possesses a singular and mysterious influence; and with which there is
connected a very curious story. It is a picture to which I attach a
value from a variety of circumstances; and though I have often been
tempted to destroy it from the odd and uncomfortable sensations it
produces in every one that beholds it; yet I have never been able to
prevail upon myself to make the sacrifice. It is a picture I never like
to look upon myself; and which is held in awe by all my servants. I
have, therefore, banished it to a room but rarely used; and should have
had it covered last night, had not the nature of our conversation, and
the whimsical talk about a haunted chamber tempted me to let it remain,
by way of experiment, whether a stranger, totally unacquainted with its
story, would be affected by it."

The words of the Baronet had turned every thought into a different
channel: all were anxious to hear the story of the mysterious picture;
and for myself, so strongly were my feelings interested, that I forgot