And so it was; the pavilion was empty.

It is beyond a doubt that Berta's piano has the marvellous quality of
making its strings sound without the intervention of the human hand. And
this being the case, it must be admitted that this marvellous instrument
is, in addition, a consummate musician, for it plays with the skill
attained only by great artists.

But since Nurse Juana cannot conceive how a piano can play of itself,
without a hand moving the keys, she has decided that in this diabolical
affair an invisible hand, the ghostly hand of some spirit from the other
world, has intervened.

This supposition is not altogether admissible, for it seems to have been
sufficiently proved that spirits do not possess hands. But the nurse does
not stop for such fine distinctions, and she firmly believes that the
spirit of Adrian Baker is wandering about the villa. Condemned perhaps to
eternal torment, he takes pleasure in torturing the living even after his
death.

And it is indeed a diabolical amusement, for the serenade is repeated
nightly; the family are aroused from sleep; they hasten to the pavilion
and the piano becomes silent; they enter it and they find no one. They
have observed that the airs played by Berta in the morning are repeated by
the piano at night.

Juana is assailed by continual terrors; there is no peace in the house.
Berta's father is unable to explain the mystery, and his mind is filled
with confusion and his heart is a prey to sudden alarms. The light of day
dissipates the agitation of their minds, they fancy themselves the victims