ll nature dreams
simultaneously.

"It was shortly after the commencement of this period of universal
slumber, one night in April, that I toiled laboriously to the summit of
the hill in question, and, spreading a rug on one of the fallen stones,
converted it into a seat. Naturally I had not climbed this steep ascent
without a purpose. The reason was this--at eight-thirty that morning I
received a telegram from a friend at Armennes, near Carnac, which ran
thus: 'Am in great difficulty--Ghosts--Come.--KRANTZ.'

"Of course Krantz is not the real name of my friend, but it is one that
answers the purpose admirably in telegrams and on post-cards; and of
course he well knew what he was about when he said 'Come.' Not only I
but everyone has confidence in Krantz, and I was absolutely certain that
when he demanded my presence, the money I should spend on the journey
would not be spent in vain.

"Apart from psychical investigation, I study every phase of human
nature, and am at present, among other things, engaged on a work of
criminology based on impressions derived from face-to-face communication
with notorious criminals.

"The morning I received Krantz's summons was the morning I had set aside
for a special study of S---- M----, whose case has recently commanded so
much public attention; but the moment I read the wire, I changed my
plans, without either hesitation or compunction. Krantz was Krantz, and
his dictum could not be disobeyed.

"Tearing down la rue Saint Denis, and narrowly avoiding collision with a
lady who lives in la rue Saint Francois, and will persist in wearing
hats and heels that outrage alike every sense of decency and good form,
I hustled into the station, and, rushing down the steps, just succeeded
in catching the Carnac train. After a journey which, for slowness, most
assuredly holds the record, I arrived, boiling over with indignation, at
Armennes, where Krantz met me. After luncheon he led the way to his
study, and, as soon as the servant who handed us coffee had left the
room, began his explanation of the telegram.

"'As you know, Trobas,' he observed, 'it's not all bliss to be a
landlord. Up to the present I have been singularly fortunate, inasmuch
as I have never experienced any difficulty in getting tenants for my
houses. Now, however, there has been a sudden and most alarming change,
and I have just received no less than a dozen notices from tenants
desirous of giving up their habitations at on