“By this time, the door slamming had ceased, and there seemed, probably because of the contrast, to be an appalling silence in the house.  However, I led the way, holding my candle high, and keeping the sword bayonet very handy.  Downstairs we found all the doors wide open; although the outer doors and the windows were closed all right.  I began to wonder whether the noises had been made by the doors after all.  Of one thing only were we sure, and that was, there was no living thing in the house, beside ourselves, while everywhere throughout the house, there was the taint of that disgusting odor.

“Of course it was absurd to try to make believe any longer.  There was something strange about the house; and as soon as it was daylight, I set my mother to packing; and soon after breakfast, I saw her off by train.

“Then I set to work to try to clear up the mystery.  I went first to the landlord, and told him all the circumstances.  From him, I found that twelve or fifteen years back, the house had got rather a curious name from three or four tenants; with the result that it had remained empty a long while; in the end he had let it at a low rent to a Captain Tobias, on the one condition that he should hold his tongue, if he saw anything peculiar.  The landlord’s idea—­as he told me frankly—­was to free the house from these tales of ‘something queer,’ by keeping a tenant in it, and then to sell it for the best price he could get.

“However, when Captain Tobias left, after a ten years’ tenancy, there was no longer any talk about the house; so when I offered to take it on a five years’ lease, he had jumped at the offer.  This was the whole story; so he gave me to understand.  When I pressed him for details of the supposed peculiar happenings in the house, all those years back, he said the tenants had talked about a woman who always moved about the house at night.  Some tenants never saw anything; but others would not stay out the first month’s tenancy.

“One thing the landlord was particular to point out, that no tenant had ever complained about knockings, or door slamming.  As for the smell, he seemed positively indignant about it; but why, I don’t suppose he knew himself, except that he probably had some vague feeling that it was an indirect accusation on my part that the drains were not right.

“In the end, I suggested that he should come down and spend the night with me.  He agreed at once, especially as I told him I intended to keep the whole business quiet, and try to get to the bottom of the curious affair; for he was anxious to keep the rumor of the haunting from getting about.

“About three o’clock that afternoon, he came down, and we made a thorough search of the house, which, however, revealed nothing unusual.  Afterward, the landlord made one or two tests, which showed him the drainage was in perfect order; after that we made our preparations for sitting up all night.