conglomeration of noises which, physically, would be beyond the power of ordinary individuals to reproduce?  Whatever may be the ultimate explanation, we feel that there is a great deal in the words quoted by Professor Barrett:  “In spite of all reasonable scepticism, it is difficult to avoid accepting, at least provisionally, the conclusion that there are, in a certain sense, haunted houses, i.e. that there are houses in which similar quasi-human apparitions have occurred at different times to different inhabitants, under circumstances which exclude the hypothesis of suggestion or expectation.”

We must now turn to the subject of this chapter.  Mrs. G. Kelly, a lady well known in musical circles in Dublin, sends as her own personal experience the following tale of a most quiet haunting, in which the spectral charwoman (!) does not seem to have entirely laid aside all her mundane habits.

“My first encounter with a ghost occurred about twenty years ago.  On that occasion I was standing in the kitchen of my house in ——­ Square, when a woman, whom I was afterwards to see many times, walked down the stairs into the room.  Having heard the footsteps outside, I was not in the least perturbed, but turned to look who it was, and found myself looking at a tall, stout, elderly woman, wearing a bonnet and old-fashioned mantle.  She had grey hair, and a benign and amiable expression.  We stood gazing at each other while one could count twenty.  At first I was not at all frightened, but gradually as I stood looking at her an uncomfortable feeling, increasing to terror, came over me.  This caused me to retreat farther and farther back, until I had my back against the wall, and then the apparition slowly faded.

“This feeling of terror, due perhaps to the unexpectedness of her appearance, always overcame me on the subsequent occasions on which I saw her.  These occasions numbered twelve or fifteen, and I have seen her in every room in the house, and at every hour of the day, during a period of about ten years.  The last time she appeared was ten years ago.  My husband and I had just returned from a concert at which he had been singing, and we sat for some time over supper, talking about the events of the evening.  When at last I rose to leave the room, and opened the dining-room door, I found my old lady standing on the mat outside with her head bent towards the door in the attitude of listening.  I called out loudly, and my husband rushed to my side.  That was the last time I have seen her.”

“One peculiarity of this spectral visitant was a strong objection to disorder or untidyness of any kind, or even to an alteration in the general routine of the house.  For instance, she showed her disapproval of any stranger coming to sleep by turning the chairs face downwards on the floor in the room they were to occupy.  I well remember one of our guests, having gone to his room one evening for something he had forgotten, remarking on coming downstairs again,