Chapter 11

The next ghost on my list was after I noticed the order in which the rooms were painted, and that was the order we were to follow, so I summoned the ghost of the double room as soon as possible because we all noticed that John Herschel's wife was visibly moved; it was done as though with consent shared, after looking at each other; Alfred Starling promptly and courteously responded to my call and announced that the specter of congestion haunted the room.

What a congested ghost looks like was a common question.

His laughter was exalted, and he described it as being "like swamp fever."

"What exactly is swamp fever," someone asked.

"Don't you know, said Alfred. I'll tell you, though."

If Tilly (I'm referring to the little sweetheart Matilda) and your humble servant (I mean I) had agreed that waiting a little longer was not only inconvenient but also against the duty we owe to society as a whole, I would have had a hundred arguments to make; and Tilly would