"
"Who died there last?" inquired Barnes, with an air of polite derision.
"A tramp," was the reply. "He went there for the sake of half a crown,
and they found him next morning hanging from the balusters, dead."
"Suicide," said Barnes. "Unsound mind."
The landlord nodded. "That's what the jury brought it in," he said
slowly; "but his mind was sound enough when he went in there. I'd known
him, off and on, for years. I'm a poor man, but I wouldn't spend the
night in that house for a hundred pounds."
[Illustration: "I'm a poor man, but I wouldn't spend the night in that
house for a hundred pounds."]
He repeated this remark as they started on their expedition a few hours
later. They left as the inn was closing for the night; bolts shot
noisily behind them, and, as the regular customers trudged slowly
homewards, they set off at a brisk pace in the direction of the house.
Most of the cottages were already in darkness, and lights in others went
out as they passed.
"It seems rather hard that we have got to lose a night's rest in order to
convince Barnes of the existence of ghosts," said White.
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