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“Well, the condition is that every suitor for my daughter’s hand must spend a night alone in that house; and if he survives and is ready to persevere with his wooing, he must return a year later with his bride and spend the night of his marriage there.”

“And very handy,” said John, “for there’s a wedding-cake shop at the corner.”

The King sighed again.

“Unhappily, none survive. One hundred and fifty-five have undertaken the adventure, and not a man of them but has either lost his wits or run for it.”

“Well,” said John, “I’ve been afraid of a great many men–“

“That’s a poor confession for a soldier,” put in the King.

“–when they all happened to come at me together. But I’ve never yet met the ghost that could frighten me; and if your Majesty will give me the latch-key I’ll try my luck this very night.”

It could not be done in this free-and-easy way; but at eight o’clock, after John had visited the Palace and taken an oath in the Princess’s presence (which was his first sight of her), he was driven down to the house beside the Lord Chamberlain, who admitted him to the black front hall, and, slamming the door upon him, scuttled out of the porch as quickly as possible and into his brougham.

John struck a match, and as he did so heard the carriage roll away. The walls were bare, and the floor and great staircase ahead of him carpetless. As the match flickered out he caught a glimpse of a pair of feet moving up the stairs; that was all–only feet.

“I’ll catch up with the calves on the landing, maybe,” said he; and, striking another match, he followed them up.

The feet turned aside on the landing and led him into a room on the right. He paused on the threshold, drew a candle from his pocket, lit it, and stared about him. The room was of great size, bare and dusty, with crimson hangings, gilt panels, and one huge gilt chandelier, from which and from the ceiling and cornice long cobwebs trailed down like creeping plants. Beneath the chandelier a dark smear ran along the boards. The feet crossed it towards the fireplace; and as they did so, John saw them stained with blood. They reached the fire-place and vanished.

Scarcely had this happened, before the end of the room opposite the window began to glow with an unearthly light. John, whose poverty had taught him to be economical, promptly blew out his candle. A moment later two men entered, bearing a coffin between them. They rested it upon the floor and, seating themselves upon it, began to cast dice. “Your soul!” “My soul!” they kept saying in hollow tones, according as they won or lost. At length one of them–a tall man in a powdered wig, with a face extraordinarily pale–flung a hand to his brow, rose and staggered from the room. The other sat waiting and twirling his black moustache, with an evil smile. John, who by this time had found a seat in a far corner, thought him the most poisonous-looking villain he had ever seen; but as the minutes passed and nothing happened, he turned his back to the light and pulled out a penny-dreadful. His literary taste was shocking, and when it came to romance he liked the incidents to follow one another with great rapidity.

He was interrupted by a blood-curdling groan, and the first ruffian broke into the room, dragging by its grey locks the body of an old man. A young girl followed, weeping and protesting, with dishevelled hair, and behind her entered a priest with a brazier full of glowing charcoal. The girl cast herself forward on the old man’s body, but the two scoundrels dragged her from it by force. “The money!” demanded the dark one; and she drew from her bosom a small key and cast it at his feet. “My promise!” demanded the other, and seized her by the wrist as the priest stepped forward. “Quick! over this coffin–man and wife!” She wrenched her hand away and thrust him backward. The priest retreated to the brazier and drew out a red-hot iron.