“My aunt, too—a rosy-faced old lady in a mob-cap—appeared quite in harmony with her surroundings. She was kindness itself—indeed, no one could have made me feel more thoroughly at home.
“‘Folks do say the house is haunted,’ she laughed, ‘particularly one room—but there! I have never seen anything, and I don’t suppose you will.’
“‘A ghost!’ I cried, ‘how awfully exciting! oh! do let me sleep in the haunted room,’ and I continued to plead till the kind-hearted old lady reluctantly consented.
“‘You mustn’t blame me if the ghost should visit you, Rosie,’ she said; ‘remember I have warned you.’
“‘There is nothing I should enjoy better than seeing a real bona-fide spook, auntie dear,’ I rejoined, smiling; but my aunt shook her head reprovingly, and no more was said on the subject until the next day.
“I awoke that night as the clock struck two—indeed, I fancied my awakening was due to that striking, it seemed so unusually loud and emphatic.
“It was a fine—indeed, I might say glorious—night, for although there was no moon, the heavens were so brilliantly illuminated with myriads of scintillating stars, that I could see every object around me almost as clearly as if it had been day.
“A sudden movement near the foot of the bed made me recollect my aunt’s admonition. I listened, experiencing none of those pleasant anticipations of which I had spoken so boastfully.
“I knew no one could have entered the room, as I had taken the precaution to lock the door, having first of all looked under the bed and made a thorough examination of the hanging wardrobe. Consequently my visitor, unless a mouse or a rat, could be nothing material.
“I devoutly wished I had slept in one of the other rooms.