Father Vansome was closeted with Val up to lunch time. He sat down to
table with us, and after the meal he and Val drove off together in the
trap; they had arranged that Father Vansome should get down at a point
where their roads diverged. I was rather astonished to learn, when I
took leave of him, that he hoped to return that same evening, as he had a
particular reason for wishing to say Mass next day.

Left to myself, I turned my steps in the direction of Archie's former
dwelling at the old mill; for I hoped to light upon some evidence which
would clear up to my own satisfaction at least the apparent mystery of
Aleck Farquhar's ghost story. Although I could not account by any
natural means for the event which had startled me at Ardmuir House, I was
nevertheless still sceptical with regard to the supposed apparition at
the mill-house. Indeed, I felt more certain than ever that a living
person had been playing pranks in the latter case, to serve some purpose
of his own; the impossibility of fraud in my regard contrasted strongly
with its probability at the old mill.

I was not deceived in my expectation. I found that the boards that
usually covered the window opening had been carefully removed, and were
standing in a corner awaiting replacement, probably. Here was a sign
that the midnight visitor had been surprised, and had not dared to wait
to cover up the window again--unless, indeed, it meant that another
"apparition" was intended. But a more close investigation convinced me
of trickery. Flung away into a corner was a small brush bearing traces
of luminous paint, and in a heap of rubbish I discerned the very lid of a
small tin of that effective spiritualistic medium. No further proof was
needed. By lucky chance I discovered what appeared to be a clue to the
reason of all this mystification. Loosened stones in the chimney and by
the hearth suggested that a search had been made for something supposed