It was too bad.

She had not produced upon him the impression that she was the sort of woman whose imagination embraced the belief in spirits.

"Where does this ghost do its tapping ?" "In the big chimney in the library," she answered.
No one observed Breitmann's hand as it slid from the bread, some of which was scattered upon the floor.

The scars, betraying emotion such as no mental effort could control, deepened, which is to say that the skin above and below them had paled.
"Might it not be some trial visit of your patron saint, Santa Claus ?" he inquired, his voice well under control.
"Really, it is no jest," she affirmed.

"For several nights I have heard the noise distinctly; a muffled tapping inside the chimney." "Suppose we inspect it after luncheon ?" suggested Fitzgerald.
"It has been done," said the admiral.