: In the castle where the cadets live, a beloved general dies. One of the cadets on guard at his grave grabs the deceased by the nose, after which there is a ghost who turned out to be the widow of the deceased.

The building of the former Pavlovsk Palace, now known as the Engineering Castle, is notorious. Since the time of Emperor Paul, who saw the shadow of his grandfather and died shortly thereafter, the castle is notorious. Now the cadets of the engineering department and former engineering cadets - young and superstitious people - are placed there. They love to scare others, using the ominous rumors about the palace.

In the fall of 1859 or 1860, the head of the Engineering Castle, General Lamnovsky, dies. He is unloved by either subordinates or superiors. There were even rumors that he was known with evil spirits. The Cadets, at every opportunity, arranged for him all sorts of dirty tricks. One of them was a fake funeral: the cadets wrapped themselves in sheets and, holding candles, arranged a funeral procession. The organizers of the first such prank were caught and punished, but in the next name day of the general, the funeral joke was repeated. This continued until the general really died.

According to customs, the cadets are supposed to be on duty at the coffin in shifts.The deceased was a Lutheran, so they did not begin to bring him to church - the coffin remained in the apartment. In the church itself, according to the Orthodox tradition, there are morning and evening funeral services, which should be attended by the entire population of the castle, except for the shift on duty. On the last evening, before the burial for the requiem, the most important people are waiting, four cadets are on guard: G-tone, V-new, Z-sky and K-din.

K-din was especially unloved by the corrupted general for all sorts of mischief. Most of all, the general was angry that he portrayed the dead man at the last “fake” funeral, and even delivered a speech on his behalf. After that, Lamnovsky vowed to punish K-din for life. But now the general is not afraid of the cadet, and having refrained from pranks all year, K-din gets the opportunity to ruffle ad libitum. K-din decides to prove that now the dead man is not dangerous to him, runs up to the hearse and grabs the dead man by the nose. Then a sigh is heard from the coffin, and a coffin of coffin clings to the cadet’s hand, from which he cannot fight back. K-din falls and makes terrible moans, awaiting punishment. At the same moment, another sigh is heard, and the cadets see a ghost - a gray man!

A ghost is a gaunt man in white, appearing gray in the shadow. From the mouth of a ghost, the cadets hear a moan, which a couple of minutes ago was attributed to the dead general. The cadets cannot move from fear, and the ghost moves toward the open coffin. But before climbing the hearse steps, the ghost unfastens the funeral tissue from K-Din’s hand, threatens him with a finger, and ... baptizes.Then he goes to the coffin, hugs the deceased and sobs.

Then the adjutant runs into the mourning hall. It turns out that this is the widow of a general who herself is near death. Now she is in a deep faint. Despite the fact that everything has been clarified, the fear of this incident remains for life. And the wife of the deceased - the last "ghost" who visited the castle.