Not long after, I was again seized by the same gentleman, who having
discovered that miss Manly, and a party of her friends were assembled
round a small fire, telling terrible stories of ghosts and murders,
resolved to frighten them; he placed a ladder by the side of the
chimney, and mounting it, put me in at the top. I was glad to escape
from him, so I flew down the chimney, carrying the soot with me, which
suddenly put out the fire; and when I entered the room, the most
terrible screams were heard from all quarters; the servants soon came in
with lights, to know what misfortune had happened, to occasion such an
uproar. I had hidden myself in a corner of the room; one of the young
ladies said it must be a ghost, that they had been sitting very quietly,
when suddenly they heard a tremendous noise, the fire was extinguished
in an instant, that a thick cloud of smoke followed, and a great black
thing, the shape of which she could not distinguish, knocked against her
face, and threw her down. By this time, Charles had joined them, and
hearing such exaggerated stories, burst into a hearty laugh. You may
laugh, said one of the ladies, but had you been here when it happened,
you would have been as frightened as we were, it could not be fancy, for
see the fire is out, and what a strong smell of sulphur is in the room.