



Produced by David Widger




SAILORS' KNOTS

By W.W. Jacobs


1909



"THE TOLL-HOUSE"


"It's all nonsense," said Jack Barnes.  "Of course people have died in the
house; people die in every house.  As for the noises--wind in the chimney
and rats in the wainscot are very convincing to a nervous man.  Give me
another cup of tea, Meagle."

"Lester and White are first," said Meagle, who was presiding at the
tea-table of the Three Feathers Inn.  "You've had two."

Lester and White finished their cups with irritating slowness, pausing
between sips to sniff the aroma, and to discover the sex and dates of
arrival of the "strangers" which floated in some numbers in the beverage.
Mr. Meagle served them to the brim, and then, turning to the grimly
expectant Mr. Barnes, blandly requested him to ring for hot water.

"We'll try and keep your nerves in their present healthy condition," he
remarked.  "For my part I have a sort of half-and-half belief in the
super-natural."

"All sensible people have," said Lester.  "An aunt of mine saw a ghost
once."

White nodded.

"I had an uncle that saw one," he said.

"It always is somebody else that sees them," said Barnes.

"Well, there is a house," said Meagle, "a large house at an absurdly low
rent, and nobody will take it.  It has taken toll of at least one life of
every family that has lived there--however short the time--and since it
has stood empty caretaker after care-taker has died there.  The last
caretaker died fifteen years ago."

"Exactly," said Barnes.  "Long enough ago for legends to accumulate."

"I'll bet you a sovereign you won't spend the night there alone, for all
your talk," said White, suddenly.

"And I," said Lester.

"No," said Barnes slowly.  "I don't believe in ghosts nor in any
supernatural things whatever; all the same I admit that I should not care
to pass a night there alone."

"But why not?"  inquired White.

"Wind in the chimney," said Meagle with a grin.

"Rats in the wainscot," chimed in Lester.  "As you like," said Barnes
coloring.

"Suppose we all go," said Meagle.  "Start after supper, and get there
about eleven.  We have been walking for ten days now without an
adventure--except Barnes's discovery that ditchwater smells longest.  It
will be a novelty, at any rate, and, if we break the spell by all
surviving, the grateful owner ought to come down handsome."

"Let's see what the landlord has to say about it first," said Lester.
"There is no fun in passing a night in an ordinary empty house.  Let us
make sure that it is haunted."

He rang the bell, and, sending for the landlord, appealed to him in the
name of our common humanity not to let them waste a night watching in a
house in which spectres and hobgoblins had no part.  The reply was more
than reassuring, and the landlord, after describing with considerable art
the exact appearance of a head which had been seen hanging out of a
window in the moonlight, wound up with a polite but urgent request that
they would settle his bill before they went.

"It's all very well for you young gentlemen to have your fun," he said
indulgently; "but supposing as how you are all found dead in the morning,
what about me?  It ain't called the Toll-House for nothing, you know."

"Who died there last?"  inquired Barnes, with an air of polite derision.

"A tramp," was the reply.  "He went there for the sake of half a crown,
and they found him next morning hanging from the balusters, dead."

"Suicide," said Barnes.  "Unsound mind."

The landlord nodded.  "That's what the jury brought it in," he said
slowly; "but his mind was sound enough when he went in there.  I'd known
him, off and on, for years.  I'm a poor man, but I wouldn't spend the
night in that house for a hundred pounds."

[Illustration: "I'm a poor man, but I wouldn't spend the night in that
house for a hundred pounds."]

He repeated this remark as they started on their expedition a few hours
later.  They left as the inn was closing for the night; bolts shot
noisily behind them, and, as the regular customers trudged slowly
homewards, they set off at a brisk pace in the direction of the house.
Most of the cottages were already in darkness, and lights in others went
out as they passed.

"It seems rather hard that we have got to lose a night's rest in order to
convince Barnes of the existence of ghosts," said White.

"It's in a good cause," said Meagle.  "A most worthy object; and
something seems to tell me that we shall succeed.  You didn't forget the
candles, Lester?"

"I have brought two," was the reply; "all the old man could spare."

There was but little moon, and the night was cloudy.  The road between
high hedges was dark, and in one place, where it ran through a wood, so
black that they twice stumbled in the uneven ground at the side of it.

"Fancy leaving our comfortable beds for this!"  said White again.  "Let
me see; this desirable residential sepulchre lies to the right, doesn't
it?"

"Farther on," said Meagle.

They walked on for some time in silence, broken only by White's tribute
to the softness, the cleanliness, and the comfort of the bed which was
receding farther and farther into the distance.  Under Meagle's guidance
they turned oft at last to the right, and, after a walk of a quarter of a
mile, saw the gates of the house before them.

[Illustration: "They saw the gates of the house before them."]

The lodge was almost hidden by overgrown shrubs and the drive was choked
with rank growths.  Meagle leading, they pushed through it until the dark
pile of the house loomed above them.

"There is a window at the back where we can get in, so the landlord
says," said Lester, as they stood before the hall door.

"Window?" said Meagle.  "Nonsense.  Let's do the thing properly.  Where's
the knocker?"

He felt for it in the darkness and gave a thundering rat-tat-tat at the
door.

"Don't play the fool," said Barnes crossly.

"Ghostly servants are all asleep," said Meagle gravely, "but I'll wake
them up before I've done with them.  It's scandalous keeping us out here
in the dark."

He plied the knocker again, and the noise volleyed in the emptiness
beyond.  Then with a sudden exclamation he put out his hands and stumbled
forward.

"Why, it was open all the time," he said, with an odd catch in his voice.
"Come on."

"I don't believe it was open," said Lester, hanging back.  "Somebody is
playing us a trick."

"Nonsense," said Meagle sharply.  "Give me a candle.  Thanks.  Who's got
a match?"

Barnes produced a box and struck one, and Meagle, shielding the candle
with his hand, led the way forward to the foot of the stairs.  "Shut the
door, somebody," he said, "there's too much draught."

"It is shut," said White, glancing behind him.

Meagle fingered his chin.  "Who shut it?"  he inquired, looking from one
to the other.  "Who came in last?"

"I did," said Lester, "but I don't remember shutting it--perhaps I did,
though."

Meagle, about to speak, thought better of it, and, still carefully
guarding the flame, began to explore the house, with the others close
behind.  Shadows danced on the walls and lurked in the corners as they
proceeded.  At the end of the passage they found a second staircase, and
ascending it slowly gained the first floor.

"Careful!" said Meagle, as they gained the landing.

He held the candle forward and showed where the balusters had broken
away.  Then he peered curiously into the void beneath.

"This is where the tramp hanged himself, I suppose," he said
thoughtfully.

"You've got an unwholesome mind," said White, as they walked on.  "This
place is qutie creepy enough without your remembering that.  Now let's
find a comfortable room and have a little nip of whiskey apiece and a
pipe.  How will this do?"

He opened a door at the end of the passage and revealed a small square
room.  Meagle led the way with the candle, and, first melting a drop or
two of tallow, stuck it on the mantelpiece.  The others seated themselves
on the floor and watched pleasantly as White drew from his pocket a small
bottle of whiskey and a tin cup.

"H'm!  I've forgotten the water," he exclaimed.  "I'll soon get some,"
said Meagle.

He tugged violently at the bell-handle, and the rusty jangling of a bell
sounded from a distant kitchen.  He rang again.

"Don't play the fool," said Barnes roughly.

Meagle laughed.  "I only wanted to convince you," he said kindly.  "There
