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But as soon as he said these words , lightning lit up the dark room . A terrible crash of thunder made them all jump to their feet . And Mrs Umney fainted . “ What an awful climate ! ” said Mr Otis calmly , and he lit a long cigar . “ There are so many people in this old country . There isn’t enough good weather for everybody . I have always said that the English should all move to America . ” “ My dear Hiram , ” cried Mrs Otis , “ what can we do with a woman who faints ? ” “ Take it out of her pay , like broken plates , ” answered her husband . “ Then she won’t faint again . ” And sure enough , a few moments later Mrs Umney opened her eyes . But she was very upset . She warned Mr Otis that trouble was coming to the house . “ I have seen things with my own eyes , sir , ” she said . “ They would make any Christian’s hair stand on end . For many nights I couldn’t close my eyes because of them . ” Mr and Mrs Otis told her kindly that they were not afraid of ghosts . They also agreed to pay her more money . Then the old woman went slowly off to her room . The storm raged all night , but nothing special happened . The next morning , however , the family came down to breakfast and found the stain on the floor again . “ It isn’t the fault of Pinkerton’s , ” said Washington . “ I have tried it on everything . It must be the ghost . ” So he rubbed out the stain a second time . But the next morning it was there again . On the third morning it was there too , although Mr Otis locked the library himself at night and took the key upstairs ! Now the whole family were very interested . Mr Otis began to think that perhaps ghosts did exist . Mrs Otis wanted to join a society for the study of ghosts . And Washington wrote a long letter to two scientists about blood stains and crime . That night all their doubts disappeared for ever . III . The Rising Sun Lubricator It was a warm , sunny day . In the evening the family went out for a drive , and they came home at nine o’clock . Over supper nobody talked about ghosts at all . They talked about the usual American things . For example , they agreed that the New York accent was much sweeter than the London one . At eleven o’clock the family went to bed . Some time later Mr Otis woke up because of a strange noise in the corridor . It sounded like metal on metal , and it was coming nearer . He got up , lit a match and looked at the clock . It was exactly one o’clock . He was quite calm . He felt his pulse , and his heart was beating normally . Now he could hear footsteps too . He put on his slippers , took a small bottle out of his case and opened the door . In the pale moonlight stood an old man of terrible appearance . His eyes were as red as burning coals . Long grey hair fell over his shoulders in dirty knots . His old - fashioned clothes were dirty and torn . Heavy rusty chains hung from his wrists and ankles .
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