Chapter VIII

"Folk say the Schloss was ever haunted ground;
But tell us, father, what those mourners were."
The father answered, smiling as he frowned:
"Now, if 'twere told by some strange traveller,
I'd say, 'Too much you tax our faith, good sir.'
But truth was ever priceless unto me.
Those mourners, clad in somber coats of fur,
_Were cats--no more, nor less_! This I did see,
And that the dead grimalkin was of high degree."