ery night and put comfortably into Lady Leucha's
bed. A saucer of cream was to be placed in the said bed, and it was
more than likely that bonnie Jean would spill it in her fright.

Lady Leucha, who knew nothing of this plan, said in a tone bristling
with haughtiness, 'Some little Scotch girls can be very rude!'

'And some fair maids of England can be downright worse!' retorted
Hollyhock.--'Come along, girls, let's go down this side-walk.'

Lady Leucha had never been spoken to in that tone before, but rudeness
to a girl who had always been pampered made her desire all the stronger
to win the fascinating Hollyhock to her side, and to deprive those
common five, Agnes Featherstonhaugh, Mary Barton, Nancy Greenfield,
Jane Calvert, and Margaret Drummond, of her company. Accordingly,
accompanied by the two Frasers, she also went down the shady walk which
led to the great lake. She began to talk in a high-pitched English
voice of the delights of her home, the wealth of her parents, and the
way in which the Marquis of Kilmarnock and his sons and daughters
adored her.

Hollyhock heard each word, but _her_ voice was no longer gentle. It
was loud and a little penetrating. 'You would not dare to come out at
night,' she said, looking at the devoted five.

'And whyever not?' asked Mary.

'You would not have the courage. It's here on moonlight nights that
the ghost walks. He drips as he walks; and he's _very_ tall and very
strong, with a wild sort of light in his eyes, which are black and big
and awful to see. He was drowned here in the lake on the night before
his wedding. He's very unquiet, is that poor ghost! _I_ do not mind
him one little bit, being a sort of friend, almost a relative, of his.
Many and many a night, when the moon is at the full, have I stood by
the lake and said, "Come away, my laddie. Come, poor ghostie, and I
'll dry your wet hair." Poor fellow, he likes me to rub him dry.'

[Illustration: 'It's here on moonlight nights that the ghost walks.']

The daughters of the marquis and the earl were now quite silent, their
silly little hearts filled with horror. They never guessed that
Hollyhock was making up her story.

'You _couldn't_ have done that,' said Jane Calvert.

'Whist, can't ye? I want to get those girls away, so as to talk about
the kitchen cat.'

The girls in question certainly did go away. They did more; they went
straight to Mrs Macintyre and asked her if the awful story was tru