The latter contained but few
rooms, mostly for storage, it seemed, and it was soon evident that no
ghost--of the human kind at least--had been at work here. The dust and
grime of years had accumulated in the apartments.
The third floor offered no solution. This was rather larger in extent,
and contained many guest-rooms. Some showed evidence of having been
beautifully decorated, being paneled in tapestry that now hung in shabby
strips--a relic of former beauty.
It was not until the second floor was reached that anything like a
promising clue was found. Meanwhile many queer nooks and corners had
been explored. Mr. Kenyon had evidently built the house after his own
eccentric ideas, for it contained strange rooms, connecting with one
another by little, unexpected passages, short flights of stairs, and
many winding ways. Some of the rooms might well have been secret ones,
so strangely were they tucked away.
But in two apartments on the second floor--two rooms that had evidently
been choice guest chambers--the searchers came upon signs which
indicated clearly that some one had been in them recently. There was
less dust, and in one corner was a pile of bags and rags that seemed to
indicate a bed. On the hearth--there were big fireplaces in each
room--were ashes that had been hot not many days gone by.
"Tramps!" exclaimed Mr. Blackford. "To my way of thinking tramps have
been sleeping here.
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