He cared
nothing about the alleged ghost, but his family absolutely refused to
have anything to do with the place, and so the arrangement fell
through.'
'What is your theory regarding this ghost, my lord?'
He answered me with some impatience.
'How can a sane man hold a theory about a ghost? I can, however,
advance a theory regarding the noises heard in the castle. For years
that place has been the resort of questionable characters.'
'I understand the Rantremly family is a very old one,' I commented
innocently, but his lordship did not notice the innuendo.
'Yes, we are an old family,' he went on with great complacency. 'The
castle, as perhaps you are aware, is a huge, ramshackle place,
honeycombed underneath with cellars. I dare say in the old days some
of these cellars and caves were the resort of smugglers, and the
receptacle of their contraband wares, doubtless with the full
knowledge of my ancestors, who, I regret to admit, as a business man,
were not too particular in their respect for law. I make no doubt that
the castle is now the refuge of a number of dangerous characters, who,
knowing the legends of the place, frighten away fools by impersonating
ghosts.'
'You wish me to uncover their retreat, then?'
'Precisely.
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