"Have you seen them?"
"Oh! certainly not, sir. When they are there, I shut myself up in the lodge, I can assure you——"
"When do they appear?"
"They come almost always on Tuesday nights."
And warming to his subject the porter gave details. He got the impression first on one occasion when her Ladyship was absent. She had left some days before for Italy. It was Sunday, and then during Tuesday night while walking in the garden he heard movements inside the house.
"I went to fetch my keys and when I came back I found nobody! I thought at first it was burglars, but I saw nothing had been taken away. Yet, I was not mistaken, furniture had been moved. There were bread crumbs on the floor."
The young man roared with laughter.
"Bread crumbs! Then your spirits come and sup here?"
The uncle, equally amused, asked: