Captain S——­’s agents made no scruple about letting the house to the well-known expert.  The Edinburgh agents, Messrs. Speedy, indeed mentioned the haunting, and expressed the hope that Colonel Taylor would not make it the subject of complaint, as had been done by the H——­ family, and they received the assurance that this was not a score upon which he would give trouble.  In regard to the letters of Messrs. R.H.  Moncrieff & Co., dated June 12, 1897, which appeared in The Times, it can only be said that the impression which they were likely to convey was, that Colonel Taylor was an imaginary being like John Doe or Richard Roe.  Their scepticism must have been of recent origin, since none was manifested on receiving his rent.  Their position is in any case unfortunate, since, even if unclouded by doubt as to the Colonel’s personality, they appear to wish the public to believe that they seriously thought that one well known as a Spiritualist in England and America, a retired Professor of Military Tactics, with a comfortable house at Cheltenham, a member of the Junior United Service Club in London, a man who neither shoots nor fishes, had been suddenly seized in his mature years with a desire to hire an isolated country house in Perthshire, in the depths of winter, for the purpose of trying his ’prentice hand upon rabbit-shooting on a small scale.

Colonel Taylor, who is a widower without a daughter, was at this time much occupied by the illness and death of a near relative, and was unable for the moment to take up residence at B——­ House.  Lord Bute accordingly expressed a hope that Miss Freer would undertake to conduct the investigation.  Mr. Myers also wrote urgently to her, saying, “If you don’t get phenomena, probably no one will.”  She was abroad at the time, but at considerable personal inconvenience consented to return, and on December 26th she wrote to Lord Bute, stating that she could reach Ballechin on February 2nd, and adding—­

“I have been reflecting further on the question of the personality of investigators.  I think the names you suggest, and some others which occur to me, divide naturally into three classes (assuming, and I think you agree with me, that it does not follow that every one can discover a ghost because it is there, nor that their failure to discover it is any proof that it is not there). (1) Those who have personal experience of phenomena, and may be expected to be susceptible to psychic influences; (2) those who have no personal powers in that line, but are open-minded and sympathetic; and (3) those who are passively open to conviction.  A fourth class, those who come to look for evidence against the phenomena, but will accept none for it, should, I think, be left until we have some demonstrable evidence to show....  Mr. Myers proposes himself for April 14-21....  I should suggest the keeping of a diary, in which every one willing to do so should make entries, negative or affirmative.”