While researching church history in
Viborg, Denmark, in particular the events of the
Reformation, the narrator's cousin Anderson stays in room Number 12 of a local
inn, the Golden Lion. Once in his room, he notices how the space seems to grow smaller and his furniture sometimes vanishes. He hears dancing in the room next door, which he notices from its door marking is Number 13. However, upon discussing the matter with the innkeeper, he learns that there is no such room with that number in the Golden Lion, as it is considered bad luck. Anderson asks the innkeeper to visit his room at night. While talking, both he and the innkeeper hear ominous singing in the room next door. They check Number 14, but learn that its occupant, Jensen, thought it was them. They then discover the door to Number 13, which Anderson had seen earlier. Suddenly, a clawed hand attacks them. The innkeeper and Anderson attempt to break down the door, only to break through a plaster wall. The occupants of 12 and 14 spend the night in a double bedded room. The following morning, the innkeeper arranges for the floorboards of Number 12 next to the party wall with Number 14 to be lifted. Beneath the floor, they find a small copper box containing a
vellum document. Somewhat anticlimactically, neither Anderson nor Jensen is able to interpret the writing on the document (suspecting it to be
Latin or
Old Danish), and they donate it to the Historical Society of Viborg. Anderson meets his cousin near
Uppsala a few months later, and relates the tale to him. == Publication ==