And then came the incident that in its ghastly, horrible absurdity made
the rest of the people shout with laughter the next day. It was not
funny then. For suddenly the eiderdown comfort began to slip. I heard no
footstep, not the slightest sound approaching me, but the comfort
moved; from my chin, inch by inch, it slipped to my shoulders; awfully,
inevitably, hair-raisingly it moved. I could feel my blood gather around
my heart, leaving me cold and nerveless. As it passed my hands I gave
an involuntary clutch for it, to feel it slip away from my fingers. Then
the full horror of the situation took hold of me; as the comfort slid
past my feet I sat up and screamed at the top of my voice.
Of course, people came running in all sorts of things. I was still
sitting up, declaring I had seen a ghost and that the house was haunted.
Dallas was struggling for the second armhole of his dressing gown and
Bella had already turned on the lights. They said I had had a nightmare,
and not to sleep on my back, and perhaps I was taking grippe.
And just then we heard Jimmy run down the stairs, and fall over
something, almost breaking his wrist. It was the eiderdown comfort,
half-way up the studio staircase!