shagreen case.]

"At what time this morning will you take your departure?"

The answer to this question was four knocks, very distinctly heard by
every person present; and accordingly, at four o'clock precisely the ghost
took its departure to the Wheatsheaf public-house close by, where it
frightened mine host and his lady almost out of their wits, by knocking in
the ceiling right above their bed.

The rumour of these occurrences very soon spread over London, and every
day Cock Lane was rendered impassable by the crowds of people who
assembled around the house of the parish clerk, in expectation of either
seeing the ghost or of hearing the mysterious knocks. It was at last found
necessary, so clamorous were they for admission within the haunted
precincts, to admit those only who would pay a certain fee, an arrangement
which was very convenient to the needy and money-loving Mr. Parsons.
Indeed, things had taken a turn greatly to his satisfaction; he not only
had his revenge, but he made a profit out of it. The ghost, in
consequence, played its antics every night, to the great amusement of many
hundreds of people and the great perplexity of a still greater number.

Unhappily, however, for the parish clerk, the ghost was induced to make
some promises which were the means of utterly destroying its reputation.
It promised, in answer to the questions of the Rev. Mr. Aldritch of
Clerkenwell, that it would not only follow the little Miss Parsons
wherever she went, but would also attend him, or any other gentleman, into
the vault under St. John's Church, where the body of the murdered woman
was deposited, and would there give notice of its presence by a distinct
knock upon the coffin. As a preliminary, the girl was conveyed to the
house of Mr. Aldritch near the church, where a large party of ladies and
gentlemen, eminent for their acquirements, their rank, or their wealth,
had assembled. About ten o'clock on the night of the first of February,
the girl having been brought from Cock Lane in a coach, was put to bed by
several ladies in the house of Mr. Aldritch; a strict examination having
been previously made that nothing was hidden in the bed-clothes. While the
gentlemen in an adjoining chamber were deliberating whether they should
proceed in a body to the vault, they were summoned into the bedroom by the
ladies, who affirmed, in great alarm, that the ghost was come, and that
they heard the knocks and scratches. The gentlemen