The story
If you are a studious man, accustomed to burning the midnight oil, wouldn’t it annoy you if each night at twelve precisely the ghost of the melancholy maiden appeared, weeping and lamenting? A certain professor was bothered this way. He was not afraid of ghosts and could have endured one whose specialty was silent haunting. He found, however, that the weeping maiden was a nuisance, and prevented him from concentrating. So he decided, ungallant though his conduct might be deemed, to get rid of her. Being a learned man, the professor knew that King Solomon used to cork wicked spirits in bottles and throw them into the sea. The professor’s ghost, however, was an uneasy shade. He threw it into the sea, he buried it into the ground, but each midnight it would reappear and made the welkin ring with weeping and lamentation. Harsh measures having failed, the professor decided to see if love could subdue a tearful ghost. In a house near the professor’s was the spirit of ‘the youthful knight.’ Nobody knew why he returned to earth, and he was not popular. Clad in full armor he clanked about the house, scowling fiercely. He was a regular killjoy, and tenants moved promptly after seeing him. Just the same the valiant professor decided to call upon the youthful knight. He carried the white lady with him—in a whiskey bottle—which, by the way, is an appropriate place for a spirit. When the youthful knight appeared, the professor set the other ghost free and was charmed to see that they were mutually attracted. Were his troubles over? Far from it. Unfortunately the ghosts were grateful, and decided, as a mark of their appreciation, to make their home with the professor. Then he moved in light marching order, and hastily, for being a learned professor he feared that his residence might become the headquarters for union ghosts.
Summary from The Moving Picture World · 12 April 1913
