Miss Hisgins whooped like a child with the whooping cough and
ran up the passage, giving little gasping screams. Beaumont, however,
ripped 'round on his heels and jumped back a couple of yards. I gave back
too, a bit, as you can understand.
"'There it is,' he said in a low, breathless voice. 'Perhaps you'll
believe now.'
"'There's certainly something,' I whispered, never taking my gaze off the
closed door of the billiard room.
"'H'sh!' he muttered. 'There it is again.'
"There was a sound like a great horse pacing 'round and 'round the
billiard room with slow, deliberate steps. A horrible cold fright took me
so that it seemed impossible to take a full breath, you know the feeling,
and then I saw we must have been walking backward for we found ourselves
suddenly at the opening of the long passage.
"We stopped there and listened. The sounds went on steadily with a
horrible sort of deliberateness, as if the brute were taking a sort of
malicious gusto in walking about all over the room which we had just
occupied. Do you understand just what I mean?
"Then there was a pause and a long time of absolute quiet except for an
excited whispering from some of the people down in the big hall. The
sound came plainly up the wide stairway. I fancy they were gathered
'round Miss Hisgins, with some notion of protecting her.
"I should think Beaumont and I stood there, at the end of the passage for
about five minutes, listening for any noise in the billiard room.
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