neighborhood and to many of my friends, I feared some
prejudice might be entertained by the first occupant of the Tapestried
Chamber, which might tend to revive the evil report which it had labored
under, and so disappoint my purpose of rendering it a useful part of the
house.

"I must confess, my dear Browne, that your arrival yesterday, agreeable to
me for a thousand reasons besides, seemed the most favorable opportunity
of removing the unpleasant rumors which attached to the room, since your
courage was indubitable, and your mind free of any preoccupation on the
subject. I could not, therefore, have chosen a more fitting subject for my
experiment."

"Upon my life," said General Browne, somewhat hastily, "I am infinitely
obliged to your lordship--very particularly indebted indeed. I am likely
to remember for some time the consequences of the experiment, as your
lordship is pleased to call it."

"Nay, now you are unjust, my dear friend," said Lord Woodville. "You have
only to reflect for a single moment in order to be convinced that I could
not augur the possibility of the pain to which you have been so unhappily
exposed.

"I was yesterday morning a complete skeptic on the subject of supernatural
appearances. Nay, I am sure that had I told you what was said about that
room, those very reports would have induced you, by your own choice, to
select it for your accommodation. It was my misfortune, perhaps my error,
but really cannot be termed my fault, that you have been afflicted so
strangely."

"Strangely indeed!" said the general, resuming his good temper; "and I
acknowledge that I have no right to be offended with your lordship for
treating me like what I used to think myself--a man of some firmness and
courage. But I see my post horses are arrived, and I must not detain your
lordship from your amusement."

"Nay, my old friend," said Lord Woodville; "since you cannot stay with us
another day--which, indeed, I can no longer urge--give me at least half an
hour more. You used to love pictures, and I have a gallery of portraits,
some of them by Vandyke, representing ancestry to whom this property and
castle formerly belonged. I think that several of them will strike you as
possessing merit."

General Browne accepted the invitation, though somewhat unwillingly. It
was evident he was not to breathe freely or at ease till he left Woodville
Castle far behind him. He could not refuse his friend's invitation,
however; a