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303
The Book of Dreams and Ghosts
·
Andrew Lang
173
HALF-PAST
ONE
O'CLOCK
In
October,
1893,
I
was
staying
at
a
town
which
we
shall
call
Rapingham.
One
night
I
and
some
kinsfolk
dined
with
another
old
friend
of
all
of
us,
a
Dr.
Ferrier.
In
the
course
of
dinner
he
asked
a
propos
de
bottes:--
"Have
you
heard
of
the
ghost
in
Blake
Street?"
a
sunny,
pleasant
street
of
respectable
but
uninteresting
antiquity
in
Rapingham.
We
had
none
of
us
heard
of
the
ghost,
and
begged
the
doctor
to
enlighten
our
ignorance.
His
story
ran
thus--I
have
it
in
his
own
writing
as
far
as
its
essence
goes:--
"The
house,"
he
said,
"belongs
to
my
friends,
the
Applebys,
who
let
it,
as
they
live
elsewhere.
A
quiet
couple
took
it
and
lived
in
it
for
five
years,
when
the
husband
died,
and
the
widow
went
away.
They
made
no
complaint
while
tenants.
The
house
stood
empty
for
some
time,
and
all
I
know
personally
about
the
matter
is
that
I,
my
wife,
and
the
children
were
in
the
dining-room
one
Sunday
when
we
heard
unusual
noises
in
the
drawing-room
overhead.
We
went
through
the
rooms
but
could
find
no
cause
or
explanation
of
the
disturbance,
and
thought
no
more
about
it.
"About
six
or
seven
years
ago
I
let
the
house
to
a
Mr.
Buckley,
who
is
still
the
tenant.
He
was
unmarried,
and
his
family
consisted
of
his
mother
and
sisters.
They
preceded
him
to
put
the
place
in
order,
and
before
his
arrival
came
to
me
in
some
irritation
complaining
that
I
had
let
them
a
haunted
house!
They
insisted
that
there
were
strange
noises,
as
if
heavy
weights
were
being
dragged
about,
or
heavy
footsteps
pacing
in
the
rooms
and
on
the
stairs.
I
said
that
I
knew
nothing
about
the
matter.
The
stairs
are
of
stone,
water
is
only
carried
up
to
the
first
floor,
there
is
an
unused
system
of
hot
air
pipes.
{177a}
Something
went
wrong
with
the
water-main
in
the
area
once,
but
the
noises
lasted
after
it
was
mended.
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