The Argosy — page 246: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

232 LADY CREIGHTON. ES, it’s a queer-looking old place, and queer things happen there, I’ve heard. Things that don’t seem much in this bright sunshine, but which would make a man’s flesh creep if he saw and heard them over there in the dead of night.” “ So ! » “So it is, sir, and people shun the place as they would the plague.” **T should like to visit it. What say you, Falkland?” And my travelling companion, Colonel Elton, turned toward me with some- thing of the battle fire lighting his stern face. “T’m not afraid of ghosts,” I answered. “Good! Neither am I.” Then addressing the German peasant: “Can we get at the keys and secure the services of a fellow not afraid of a sighing gust of wind at midnight ?” The peasant shook his head in condemnation of the light tones, saying, as he did so: “There's no need of keys, sir. A storm crashed one of the old doors in more than a year since, and you can go and come as you like. But if you want a good, brave fellow to guide you and stand by you through thick and thin, my brother Franz is the one for you: and he'll go backed by a hound that fears nothing human.” ' “Very good. We'll investigate this mystery to-night.” It was nearing dusk when we reached the irregular old structure which had attracted our attention earlier in the day. Perched high amidst rock and forest, its aspect was eminently forbidding, though the extensive grounds still gave evidence of a former care and taste which must have relieved the place of much of its sombre wildness. As we wandered through the labyrinthine halls and rooms, other evidences of bygone luxury met our eyes in remnants of faded carpets and stray pieces of furniture, elegant enough to have graced a palace. And these proofs of the last tenant’s hasty flight were to be found in every direction. One room on the first floor had scarcely been disturbed, and in this we finally decided to bestow ourselves and the hamper, which Franz had guarded with a care that sufficiently expressed his regard for its contents. Once ablaze with firelight and candlelight the room looked a cheery place in which to await ghostly sights and sounds: and we discussed the contents of the above - mentioned hamper, trusting that our mundane comforts might not scare away the nocturnal visitants of whom we had heard. “Franz,” said the Colonel, sipping with critical taste the glass of comicbooks.com