To shame himself, he took his lamp in his hand, and crossing over to the far corner where the skeleton stood, examined it.

A set of bones bought for three hundred francs.

Was he a child, to be scared by such a bogey! "He held his lamp up in front of the thing's grinning head.

The flame of the lamp flickered as though a faint breath had passed over it.
"The man explained this to himself by saying that the walls of the house were old and cracked, and that the wind might creep in anywhere.

He repeated this explanation to himself as he recrossed the room, walking backwards, with his eyes fixed on the thing.