The Builder Paid by Czernin’s Ghost

The builder of Czernin Palace agreed with the count that payment would be made only when construction was complete. But the count died just as the palace was finished. The builder had no written agreement, so the countess refused to pay. His brother, a member of a secret Prague society, invited him to a meeting and promised help. They blindfolded him and took him somewhere outside Prague, where he found himself among masked people. After hearing his story, one of the mysterious hooded figures drew up a legally worded contract. A collective invocation of the count’s ghost followed. Soon footsteps sounded and Czernin entered the room. He read the contract carefully and signed it, vanishing at that very moment. On the strength of this agreement, the sum owed had to be paid to the builder.