remained.

"But though we put out the light we did not fall asleep. We were
discussing the cleverness of the detective and the folly of the thief
who had left a clue behind, and it was actually two o'clock when we
pulled our rugs up to our necks and closed our eyes.

"At that moment we heard the footsteps of a number of persons walking
along the corridor. The corridor runs the whole length of the house as
will appear from the rough sketch. This corridor was well carpeted
still we heard the tread of a number of feet. We looked at the door "C."
This door was closed but not bolted from inside. Slowly it was pushed
open, and, horror of horrors, three shadowy forms walked into the room.
One was distinctly the form of a white man in European night attire,
another the form of a white woman, also in night attire, and the third
was the form of a black woman, probably an Indian nurse or ayah.

"We remained dumb with horror, as we could see clearly that these
unwelcome visitors were not of this world. We could not move.

"The three figures passed right round the beds as if searching for
something. They looked into every nook and corner of the bed-room and
then passed into the dressing room. Within half a minute they returned
and passed out into the corridor in the same order in which they had
come in, namely, the man first, the white woman next, and the black
woman last of all.

"We lay as if dead. We could hear them in the corridor and in the
bedroom adjoining, with the door "E", and in the dressing room attached
to that bedroom. They again returned and passed into the corridor ...