第16章
Iturnedonhim，holdingit。’Whatareyoudoinghere？’Isaid。
“Hehaddroppedhishandsandstoppedhisbooing，andtherehestood，abashedandawkward，theghostofaweak，silly，aimlessyoungman。
’I’mhaunting，’hesaid。
“’Youhaven’tanybusinessto，’Isaidinaquietvoice。
“’I’maghost，’hesaid，asifindefence。
“’Thatmaybe，butyouhaven’tanybusinesstohaunthere。Thisisarespectableprivateclub；peopleoftenstopherewithnursemaidsandchildren，and，goingaboutinthecarelesswayyoudo，somepoorlittlemitecouldeasilycomeuponyouandbescaredoutofherwits。
Isupposeyoudidn’tthinkofthat？’
“’No，sir，’hesaid，’Ididn’t。’
“’Youshouldhavedone。Youhaven’tanyclaimontheplace，haveyou？
Weren’tmurderedhere，oranythingofthatsort？’
“’None，sir；butIthoughtasitwasoldandoak-panelled——’
“’That’sNOexcuse。’Iregardedhimfirmly。’Yourcominghereisamistake，’Isaid，inatoneoffriendlysuperiority。IfeignedtoseeifIhadmymatches，andthenlookedupathimfrankly。
’IfIwereyouIwouldn’twaitforcock-crow——I’dvanishrightaway。’
“Helookedembarrassed。’ThefactIS，sir——’hebegan。
“’I’dvanish，’Isaid，drivingithome。
“’Thefactis，sir，that——somehow——Ican’t。’
“’YouCAN’T？’
“’No，sir。There’ssomethingI’veforgotten。I’vebeenhangingaboutheresincemidnightlastnight，hidinginthecupboardsoftheemptybedroomsandthingslikethat。I’mflurried。I’venevercomehauntingbefore，anditseemstoputmeout。’
“’Putyouout？’
“’Yes，sir。I’vetriedtodoitseveraltimes，anditdoesn’tcomeoff。
There’ssomelittlethinghasslippedme，andIcan’tgetback。’
“That，youknow，ratherbowledmeover。HelookedatmeinsuchanabjectwaythatforthelifeofmeIcouldn’tkeepupquitethehigh，hectoringveinIhadadopted。’That’squeer，’Isaid，andasIspokeIfanciedIheardsomeonemovingaboutdownbelow。
’Comeintomyroomandtellmemoreaboutit，’Isaid。’Ididn’t，ofcourse，understandthis，’andItriedtotakehimbythearm。
But，ofcourse，youmightaswellhavetriedtotakeholdofapuffofsmoke！Ihadforgottenmynumber，Ithink；anyhow，Iremembergoingintoseveralbedrooms——itwasluckyIwastheonlysoulinthatwing——untilIsawmytraps。’Hereweare，’Isaid，andsatdowninthearm-chair；’sitdownandtellmeallaboutit。Itseemstomeyouhavegotyourselfintoajollyawkwardposition，oldchap。’
“Well，hesaidhewouldn’tsitdown！he’dprefertoflitupanddowntheroomifitwasallthesametome。Andsohedid，andinalittlewhileweweredeepinalongandserioustalk。Andpresently，youknow，somethingofthosewhiskiesandsodasevaporatedoutofme，andIbegantorealisejustalittlewhatathunderingrumandweirdbusinessitwasthatIwasin。Therehewas，semi-transparent——
theproperconventionalphantom，andnoiselessexceptforhisghostofavoice——flittingtoandfrointhatnice，clean，chintz-hungoldbedroom。Youcouldseethegleamofthecoppercandlesticksthroughhim，andthelightsonthebrassfender，andthecornersoftheframedengravingsonthewall，——andtherehewastellingmeallaboutthiswretchedlittlelifeofhisthathadrecentlyendedonearth。Hehadn’taparticularlyhonestface，youknow，butbeingtransparent，ofcourse，hecouldn’tavoidtellingthetruth。“
“Eh？“saidWish，suddenlysittingupinhischair。
“What？“saidClayton。
“Beingtransparent——couldn’tavoidtellingthetruth——Idon’tseeit，“
saidWish。
“_I_don’tseeit，“saidClayton，withinimitableassurance。“ButitISso，Icanassureyounevertheless。Idon’tbelievehegotonceanail’sbreadthofftheBibletruth。Hetoldmehowhehadbeenkilled——hewentdownintoaLondonbasementwithacandletolookforaleakageofgas——anddescribedhimselfasaseniorEnglishmasterinaLondonprivateschoolwhenthatreleaseoccurred。“
“Poorwretch！“saidI。
“That’swhatIthought，andthemorehetalkedthemoreIthoughtit。
Therehewas，purposelessinlifeandpurposelessoutofit。Hetalkedofhisfatherandmotherandhisschoolmaster，andallwhohadeverbeenanythingtohimintheworld，meanly。Hehadbeentoosensitive，toonervous；noneofthemhadevervaluedhimproperlyorunderstoodhim，hesaid。Hehadneverhadarealfriendintheworld，Ithink；hehadneverhadasuccess。Hehadshirkedgamesandfailedexaminations。’It’slikethatwithsomepeople，’hesaid；’wheneverIgotintotheexamination-roomoranywhereeverythingseemedtogo。’
Engagedtobemarriedofcourse——toanotherover-sensitiveperson，I
suppose——whentheindiscretionwiththegasescapeendedhisaffairs。
’Andwhereareyounow？’Iasked。’Notin——？’
“Hewasn’tclearonthatpointatall。Theimpressionhegavemewasofasortofvague，intermediatestate，aspecialreserveforsoulstoonon-existentforanythingsopositiveaseithersinorvirtue。
_I_don’tknow。Hewasmuchtooegotisticalandunobservanttogivemeanyclearideaofthekindofplace，kindofcountry，thereisontheOtherSideofThings。Whereverhewas，heseemstohavefalleninwithasetofkindredspirits:ghostsofweakCockneyyoungmen，whowereonafootingofChristiannames，andamongthesetherewascertainlyalotoftalkabout’goinghaunting’andthingslikethat。
Yes——goinghaunting！Theyseemedtothink’haunting’atremendousadventure，andmostofthemfunkeditallthetime。Andsoprimed，youknow，hehadcome。“
“Butreally！“saidWishtothefire。
“Thesearetheimpressionshegaveme，anyhow，“saidClayton，modestly。
“Imay，ofcourse，havebeeninaratheruncriticalstate，butthatwasthesortofbackgroundhegavetohimself。Hekeptflittingupanddown，withhisthinvoicegoingtalking，talkingabouthiswretchedself，andneverawordofclear，firmstatementfromfirsttolast。
Hewasthinnerandsillierandmorepointlessthanifhehadbeenrealandalive。Onlythen，youknow，hewouldnothavebeeninmybedroomhere——ifheHADbeenalive。Ishouldhavekickedhimout。“
“Ofcourse，“saidEvans，“thereAREpoormortalslikethat。“
“Andthere’sjustasmuchchanceoftheirhavingghostsastherestofus，“Iadmitted。
“Whatgaveasortofpointtohim，youknow，wasthefactthathedidseemwithinlimitstohavefoundhimselfout。Themesshehadmadeofhauntinghaddepressedhimterribly。Hehadbeentolditwouldbea’lark’；hehadcomeexpectingittobea’lark，’
andhereitwas，nothingbutanotherfailureaddedtohisrecord！
Heproclaimedhimselfanutterout-and-outfailure。Hesaid，andIcanquitebelieveit，thathehadnevertriedtodoanythingallhislifethathehadn’tmadeaperfectmessof——andthroughallthewastesofeternityheneverwould。Ifhehadhadsympathy，perhaps。Hepausedatthat，andstoodregardingme。Heremarkedthat，strangeasitmightseemtome，nobody，notanyone，ever，hadgivenhimtheamountofsympathyIwasdoingnow。Icouldseewhathewantedstraightaway，andIdeterminedtoheadhimoffatonce。Imaybeabrute，youknow，butbeingtheOnlyRealFriend，therecipientoftheconfidencesofoneoftheseegotisticalweaklings，ghostorbody，isbeyondmyphysicalendurance。Igotupbriskly。’Don’tyoubroodonthesethingstoomuch，’Isaid。’Thethingyou’vegottodoistogetoutofthisgetoutofthis——sharp。YoupullyourselftogetherandTRY。’’Ican’t，’hesaid。’Youtry，’Isaid，andtryhedid。“
“Try！“saidSanderson。“HOW？“
“Passes，“saidClayton。
“Passes？“
“Complicatedseriesofgesturesandpasseswiththehands。That’showhehadcomeinandthat’showhehadtogetoutagain。Lord！
whatabusinessIhad！“
“ButhowcouldANYseriesofpasses——？“Ibegan。
“Mydearman，“saidClayton，turningonmeandputtingagreatemphasisoncertainwords，“youwantEVERYTHINGclear。_I_don’tknowHOW。AllIknowisthatyouDO——thatHEdid，anyhow，atleast。
Afterafearfultime，youknow，hegothispassesrightandsuddenlydisappeared。“
“Didyou，“saidSanderson，slowly，“observethepasses？“
“Yes，“saidClayton，andseemedtothink。“Itwastremendouslyqueer，“
hesaid。“Therewewere，Iandthisthinvagueghost，inthatsilentroom，inthissilent，emptyinn，inthissilentlittleFriday-nighttown。Notasoundexceptourvoicesandafaintpantinghemadewhenheswung。Therewasthebedroomcandle，andonecandleonthedressing-