"Oh! there is no time or space for them," he said, "they are earth-bound spirits, and can go from one part of the globe to another in a second; but they have their favourite haunts and meeting places just as we folks have, and Lausdree seems to appeal to their varied tastes."
He then went on to tell me some details of the Haunted Castle. "There are supposed to be," he said, "beneath the Castle splendid old apartments, dungeons, winding passages, and cellars; but history states that any of those persons who tried to investigate these mysteries returned no more, so the entrances were walled up and are now completely lost sight of.
"There is a built-up chamber, but no one durst open it, the penalty being total blindness or death, and such cases are on record. There is also a coffin room shaped exactly like its name; but one of the queerest places at Lausdree is a small apartment with a weird light of its own. At night this room can be seen from the old garden, showing a pale, uncanny, phosphorescent glow.
"Mr Snaggers—that's the footman—and I unlocked the door and examined the place carefully. There is a table, a sofa, and a few old chairs therein, and an all-pervading sickly light equally diffused. The furniture throws no shadows whatever. The room seemed very chilly, and there was a feeling as if all one's vitality was being sucked out of one's body, and drawing one's breath caused pain. Snaggers felt the same. No one could live long in that eerie apartment. I know we were glad to lock it up again.
"Then there is a spiral stair, called 'Meg's Leg.' I don't know the legend, but almost every night one hears her leg stumping up these steps."
"What a creepy place it must be, to be sure," I murmured, gravely.
"Yes!" said Anklebone, "and I tell you sir, Snaggers and I generally arranged to go up to bed together; one always felt there was something coming up the stairs behind one. When a person stopped, it stopped also, and one could hear it breathing and panting, but nothing was to be seen. Snaggers said one night when the candle went out he saw monstrous red eyes, but
