declared he could not imagine what the result might prove. "With all the
will in the world," he said, "to assist Miss Blake and that poor child,
I cannot undertake to provide for them. Something must be done in the
affair, and I am sure I cannot see what that something is to be. Since
Mr. Elmsdale bought the place, the neighbourhood has gone down. If we
sold the freehold as it stands, I fear we should not get more than a
thousand pounds for it, and a thousand pounds would not last Miss Blake
three years; as for supposing she could live on the interest, that is
out of the question. The ground might be cut up and let for business
purposes, of course, but that would be a work of time. I confess, I do
not know what to think about the matter or how to act in it."

"Do you suppose the place really is haunted?" I ventured to inquire.

"Haunted?--pooh! nonsense," answered Mr. Craven, pettishly. "Do I
suppose this room is haunted; do I believe my offices are haunted? No
sane man has faith in any folly of the kind; but the place has got a bad
name; I suspect it is unhealthy, and the tenants, when they find that
out, seize on the first excuse which offers. It is known we have
compromised a good many tenancies, and I am afraid we shall have to
fight this case, if only to show we do not intend being patient for
ever. Besides, we shall exhaust the matter: we shall hear what the
ghost-seers have to say for themselves on oath. There is little doubt of
our getting a verdict, for the British juryman is, as a rule, not
imaginative."

"I think we shall get a verdict," I agreed; "but I fancy we shall never
get another tenant."

"There are surely as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it," he