道尔在屋里听到尖叫声，误以为房间有怪物，于是慌忙逃出自己的房间。情绪平静之后他认出那是宝贝简的哭声，于是大家去他的房间寻找……
Ascending once more to the library the weary watchers resumed their former attitudes of waiting，as patiently as they might，for the coming of the day.Uncle John looked at his watch and found it was only a little after two o'clock.The minutes seemed hours to—night.
Suddenly a tremendous shriek rent the night，a shriek sowild and blood—curdlinga in its intensity that they sprang up and clung to each other in horror.While they stood motionless and terror—stricken there came a thump！—thump！—as of some heavy object tumbling down the three or four steps leading from the hall to the corridor of the old South Wing，and then the door burst open and Major Doyle—clothed in red—and—white striped pajamas—fairly fell into the library，rolled twice over and came to a stop in a sitting position，from whence he let out another yell that would have shamed a Cherokee Indian and which so startled big Runyon that he held a tenor note at high C for fully a minute—much like the whistle of a peanut roaster—the which was intended for an expression of unquali？ed terror.
Patsy was the first to recover and kneel beside the poor major，whose eyes were literally bulging from their sockets.
"Oh，Dad—dear Dad！—what is it？"she cried.
The major shuddered and clapped his hands to his eyes.Then he rocked back and forth，moaning dismallyb，while Patsy clung to his neck，sobbing and nearly distracted.
"Speak，Major！"commanded Arthur.
"A—a ghost！"was the wailing reply.
"A ghost！"echoed the amazed spectators.
"Did you see it？"questioned Uncle John in a trembling voice，as he bent over his brother—in—law.
"See it ？"shouted the major，removing his hands to glare angrily at Mr.Merrick."How could I see anything in the dark？The room was black as pitch.""But you said a ghost.""Of course I said a ghost，"retorted the major，querulouslya，as he rubbed his bare ankle with one hand to soothe a bump."You don't have to see a ghost to know it's there，do you？And this ghost—Oh，Patsy，darling，I can't say it ！—it's too horrible."Again a fit of shuddering seized him and he covered his eyes anew and rocked his body back and forth while he maintained his seat upon the ？oor.His legs were spread wide apart and he wiggled his big toes convulsivelyb.
Beth asked with bated breath：
"Did you hear the ghost，then，Major？"
"Um！I heard it，"he moaned."And it's the end of all—the destroyer of our hopes—the harbingerc of despair！""Look here，Major，"said Uncle John desperately，"be a man，and tell us what you mean.""It—it was baby—baby Jane！"Arthur sobbed and dropped his head upon the table.Rudolph groaned.Runyon swore softly，but with an accent that did not seem very wicked.Uncle John stared hard at the major.
"You're an ass，"he said."You've had a nightmare."The major could not bear such an aspersiona，even under the trying circumstances.He scrambled to his feet，this time trembling with indignant anger，and roared：
"I tell you I heard baby—baby Jane—and she was crying ！
Don't I know？Don't I know our baby's voice？"Arthur leaped to his feet，a resolute expression upon his face.Instantly they all turned and followed him from the room.Into the hall，up the steps and through the corridor of the South Wing they passed，and just inside the major's room Rudolph struck a match and lighted a lamp that stood upon the table.
The place was in wild disorder，for when the major leapedfrom the bed he had dragged the coverings with him and they lay scattered upon the ？oor.The chair in which he had placed his clothing had been overturned and there was no question that his flight had been a precipitousb rout.The casement of the window，set far back in the thick adobe wall，was wide open and the night breeze that came through it made the ？ame of the lamp ？icker weirdly.
Beth proved her courage by bolding crossing the room andclosing the window，while the others stood huddled just inside the door.Back of them all was the white face of Major Doyle，a brave soldier who had faced the enemy un？inchingly in many a hard fought battle，but a veritable poltroon in an imaginary ghostly presence.