Taking my revenge, I cut them as far back as I could, and then, without
closing the window, and keeping my breath as well as I could, I looked
out across the garden over the Thames, away to the opposite bank, where
a few lights glimmered at long intervals. "An eerie, lonely place for a
fellow to be in all by himself," I continued; "and yet, if the rest of
the ghosts, bodiless or clothed with flesh, which frequent this house
prove to be as readily laid as those ivy-twigs, I shall earn my
money--and--my--thanks, easily enough."
So considering, I relit the gas, replenished the fire, refilled my pipe,
reseated myself by the hearth, and with feet stretched out towards the
genial blaze, attempted to resume my reading.
All in vain: I could not fix my attention on the page; I could not
connect one sentence with another. When my mind ought to have
concentrated its energies upon Justice That, and Vice-Chancellor This,
and Lord Somebody Else, I felt it wandering away, trying to fit together
all the odds and ends of evidence worthy or unworthy concerning the
Uninhabited House. Which really was, as we had always stated, a good
house, a remarkably good house, well furnished, suitable in every
respect, &c.
Had I been a "family of respectability," or a gentleman of position,
with a large number of servants, a nice wife, and a few children
sprinkled about the domestic picture, I doubt not I should have enjoyed
the contemplation of that glowing fire, and rejoiced in the idea of
finding myself located in so desirable a residence, within an easy
distance of the West End; but, as matters stood, I felt anything rather
than elated.
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