"I had a short walk, and then breakfast; after which I felt more my own
man, and so returned to the Grey Room, and, with Peter's help, and one of
the maids, I had everything taken out of the room, except the bed--even
the very pictures. I examined the walls, floor and ceiling then, with
probe, hammer and magnifying glass; but found nothing suspicious. And I
can assure you, I began to realize, in very truth, that some incredible
thing had been loose in the room during the past night. I sealed up
everything again, and went out, locking and sealing the door, as before. "After dinner, Peter and I unpacked some of my stuff, and I fixed up my
camera and flashlight opposite to the door of the Grey Room, with a
string from the trigger of the flashlight to the door. Then, you see, if
the door were really opened, the flashlight would blare out, and there
would be, possibly, a very queer picture to examine in the morning. The
last thing I did, before leaving, was to uncap the lens; and after that I
went off to my bedroom, and to bed; for I intended to be up at midnight;
and to ensure this, I set my little alarm to call me; also I left my
candle burning. "The clock woke me at twelve, and I got up and into my dressing gown and
slippers. I shoved my revolver into my right side-pocket, and opened my
door. Then, I lit my darkroom lamp, and withdrew the slide, so that it
would give a clear light. I carried it up the corridor, about thirty
feet, and put it down on the floor, with the open side away from me, so
that it would show me anything that might approach along the dark
passage. Then I went back, and sat in the doorway of my room, with my
revolver handy, staring up the passage toward the place where I knew my
camera stood outside the door of the Grey Room. "I should think I had watched for about an hour and a half, when,
suddenly, I heard a faint noise, away up the corridor. I was immediately
conscious of a queer prickling sensation about the back of my head, and
my hands began to sweat a little. The following instant, the whole end of
the passage flicked into sight in the abrupt glare of the flashlight. There came the succeeding darkness, and I peered nervously up the
corridor, listening tensely, and trying to find what lay beyond the faint
glow of my dark-lamp, which now seemed ridiculously dim by contrast with
the tremendous blaze of the flash-power.... And then, as I stooped
forward, staring and listening, there came the crashing thud of the door
of the Grey Room. The sound seemed to fill the whole of the large
corridor, and go echoing hollowly through the house. I tell you, I felt
horrible--as if my bones were water. Simply beastly. Jove! how I did
stare, and how I listened. And then it came again--thud, thud, thud, and
then a silence that was almost worse than the noise of the door; for I
kept fancying that some awful thing was stealing upon me along the
corridor. And then, suddenly, my lamp was put out, and I could not see a
yard before me. I realized all at once that I was doing a very silly
thing, sitting there, and I jumped up. Even as I did so, I _thought_ I
heard a sound in the passage, and quite _near_ me. I made one backward
spring into my room, and slammed and locked the door. I sat on my bed,
and stared at the door. I had my revolver in my hand; but it seemed an
abominably useless thing. I felt that there was something the other side
of that door. For some unknown reason I _knew_ it was pressed up against
the door, and it was soft. That was just what I thought. Most
extraordinary thing to think. "Presently I got hold of myself a bit, and marked out a pentacle
hurriedly with chalk on the polished floor; and there I sat in it
almost until dawn. And all the time, away up the corridor, the door of
the Grey Room thudded at solemn and horrid intervals. It was a
miserable, brutal night. "When the day began to break, the thudding of the door came gradually to
an end, and, at last, I got hold of my courage, and went along the
corridor in the half light to cap the lens of my camera. I can tell you,
it took some doing; but if I had not done so my photograph would have
been spoilt, and I was tremendously keen to save it. I got back to my
room, and then set-to and rubbed out the five-pointed star in which I had
been sitting. "Half an hour later there was a tap at my door. It was Peter with my
coffee. When I had drunk it, we both went along to the Grey Room. As we
went, I had a look at the seals on the other doors; but they were
untouched. The seal on the door of the Grey Room was broken, as also was
the string from the trigger of the flashlight; but the card over the
keyhole was still there. I ripped it off, and opened the door. Nothing
unusual was to be seen until we came to the bed; then I saw that, as on
the previous day, the bedclothes had been torn off, and hurled into the
left-hand corner, exactly where I had seen them before. I felt very
queer; but I did not forget to look at all the seals, only to find that
not one had been broken. "Then I turned and looked at old Peter, and he looked at me,
nodding his head. "'Let's get out of here!' I said. 'It's no place for any living human to
enter, without proper protection.' "We went out then, and I locked and sealed the door, again. "After breakfast, I developed the negative; but it showed only the door
of the Grey Room, half opened. Then I left the house, as I wanted to get
certain matters and implements that might be necessary to life; perhaps
to the spirit; for I intended to spend the coming night in the Grey Room. "I got back in a cab, about half-past five, with my apparatus, and this,
Peter and I carried up to the Grey Room, where I piled it carefully in
the center of the floor. When everything was in the room, including a cat
which I had brought, I locked and sealed the door, and went toward the
bedroom, telling Peter I should not be down for dinner. He said, 'Yes,
sir,' and went downstairs, thinking that I was going to turn in, which
was what I wanted him to believe, as I knew he would have worried both me
and himself, if he had known what I intended. "But I merely got my camera and flashlight from my bedroom, and hurried
back to the Grey Room. I locked and sealed myself in, and set to work,
for I had a lot to do before it got dark. "First, I cleared away all the ribbons across the floor; then I carried
the cat--still fastened in its basket--over toward the far wall, and left
it. I returned then to the center of the room, and measured out a space
twenty-one feet in diameter, which I swept with a 'broom of hyssop.' About this, I drew a circle of chalk, taking care never to step over the
circle. Beyond this I smudged, with a bunch of garlic, a broad belt right
around the chalked circle, and when this was complete, I took from among
my stores in the center a small jar of a certain water. I broke away the
parchment, and withdrew the stopper.