Chapter 4, The Night the Ghost Got In Summary and Analysis

On 17 November, 1915, a ghost enters the Thurber house and causes "a hullabaloo of misunderstanding." At 1:15 AM, Thurber, fresh from a bath, hears something walking around the dining room table downstairs. Suspecting a burglar, he wakes Herman. Both hear something coming up the stairs invisibly, but slam the door against it. More steps are heard downstairs, followed by nothing. Mother awakens, agitated, and wants to call the police, but the only phone is downstairs, with the burglar(s). She throws a shoe through the neighbor's window and convinces angry Mr. Bodwell to make the call for her. In an aside, Thurber notes that Mother enjoys the sensation of breaking the window and he has to talk her out of breaking another.

The police arrive in force, break down the front...