faint after that'; and in a few moments Mrs. Umney certainly came
to. There was no doubt, however, that she was extremely upset, and
she sternly warned Mr. Otis to beware of some trouble coming to the
house.

'I have seen things with my own eyes, sir,' she said, 'that would
make any Christian's hair stand on end, and many and many a night I
have not closed my eyes in sleep for the awful things that are done
here.' Mr. Otis, however, and his wife warmly assured the honest
soul that they were not afraid of ghosts, and, after invoking the
blessings of Providence on her new master and mistress, and making
arrangements for an increase of salary, the old housekeeper tottered
off to her own room.



CHAPTER II



The storm raged fiercely all that night, but nothing of particular
note occurred. The next morning, however, when they came down to
breakfast, they found the terrible stain of blood once again on the
floor. 'I don't think it can be the fault of the Paragon
Detergent,' said Washington, 'for I have tried it with everything.
It must be the ghost.' He accordingly rubbed out the stain a second
time, but the second morning it appeared again. The third morning
also it was there, though the library had been locked up at night by
Mr. Otis himself, and the key carried upstairs. The whole family
were now quite interested; Mr. Otis began to suspect that he had