Suddenly she felt a cold wind blow through the room, the candles went out, and she could hear the rustle of "ghostly gahments" sweeping past her.

The oven door sprang open of its own accord; she looked inside, and "dere wa'n't no chicken dere!" Repeated questioning only brought out the same statement but with more circumstantial details.

The other negroes backed her up, and the story grew rapidly in magnitude and horror.

Nancy's seizures, it appeared, were contagious, and the others by this time were almost as excited as she.

The only approximately calm one among them was Cat-Eye Mose who sat in the doorway watching the scene with half furtive eyes and something resembling a grin on his face.
The Colonel, observing that it was a good deal of commotion for the sake of one small chicken, disgustedly dropped the inquiry.