Editing Saki (section)

==="The Open Window"===
Framton Nuttel, a nervous man, has come to stay in the country for his health. His sister, who thinks he should socialise while he is there, has given him letters of introduction to families in the neighbourhood whom she got to know during her stay. Framton goes to visit Mrs. Sappleton and, while waiting for her to come down, is entertained by her witty, fifteen-year-old niece. The niece tells him that the French window is kept open, even though it is October, because Mrs. Sappleton believes that her husband and her brothers, who drowned in a bog three years before, will come back one day. When Mrs. Sappleton comes down she talks about her husband and her brothers, and how they are going to come back from shooting soon; Framton, believing that she is deranged, tries to distract her by explaining his health condition. Then, to his horror, Mrs. Sappleton points out that her husband and her brothers are coming, whom he sees walking towards the window with their dog. He thinks he is seeing ghosts and flees. Mrs. Sappleton cannot understand why he has run away and, at her husband and brothers' arrival, tells them about the odd man who has just left. The niece explains that Framton ran away because of the spaniel: he is afraid of dogs ever since he was hunted by a pack of stray dogs in India and had to spend a night in a newly dug grave with creatures grinning and foaming just above him. The last line summarises the situation, saying of the niece, "Romance at short notice was her speciality."