The time was a quarter past twelve. Now the haunting would begin. The ghost laughed a soft laugh to himself, and went around the corner. Then he screamed with terror and jumped back. His face went completely white and he hid it in his long, bony hands. Right in front of him was a horrible ghost!

It was standing as still as a statue, and it was as monstrous as a madman's dream! Its head was bald and polished; its face was round, fat, and white. It had been laughing a horrible laugh for so long that its face had a terrible grin that would never go away.

There was a bright red light in the thing's eyes, and its mouth was full of fire. It was wearing clothes just like those the ghost was wearing, but it was much bigger.

On the chest of the other ghost there was a notice with old-fashioned writing on it. The ghost thought that this was about horrible things which the other ghost had done, some frightening description of a crime. In its hand, this ghost held a dagger of bright steel.

The ghost had never seen a ghost before, so of course he was very frightened. He looked again - very quickly - at the terrible figure, and then he ran back to his room. He was so scared that he fell over as he ran down the corridor.

He even dropped his dagger into Mr Otis' boots, and the butler found it there in the morning. When the ghost reached his own room, he jumped into bed, and hid under the blankets.