h, "that the servants of the house would
have had some curiosity about such objects, if no one else had."

Miss Panney laughed.

"There hasn't been a servant in that garret for many a long year," said
she. "You evidently don't know that this house is considered haunted,
particularly the garret; and I suppose that box of bones had a good deal
to do with the notion."

"Well," said Ralph, "no doubt the ghosts have been a great protection to
our family treasures."

"And to your whole house," said the old lady; "watch-dogs would be
nothing to them."

Miss Panney and Ralph ate dinner together. The old lady would not leave
until the doctor had come; and the conversation was an education to young
Haverley in regard to the Butterwood family and the Thorbury
neighborhood. At the conclusion of the meal, Phoebe came into the room.

"I went upstairs to see how she was gettin' on, sir," she said; "an' she
was awake, an' she made me get a pencil an' paper out of her bag, an' she
sent you this note."

On a half-sheet of note-paper, he read the following: "Dear Ralph, I went
upstairs and looked at the third floor and a good deal of the garret,
without you being with me. I really want to be perfectly fair, and so you
must not stop altogether from looking at things until I am able to go
with you. I think good things to look at by yourself would be stables and
barnyards, and the lower part of barns. Please do not go into haylofts,
nor into the chicken-yard, if there is one. You might keep your eyes on
the ground until you get to these places and then look up. If there are
horses and cows, don't tell me anything about them when you see me.
Don't tell me anything. I think I shall be well to-morrow, perhaps
to-night. Miriam."

Ralph laughed heartily, and read the note aloud.

"I should say," said Miss Panney, "that that girl has a good deal more
conscience than fever. She ought to have slept longer, but as she is
awake I will go up and take a look at her; while you can blindfold
yourself, if you like, and go out to the barns."

The doctor did not arrive until late in the afternoon, and it was
nearly half an hour after he had gone up to his patient before he
reported to Ralph.

"She is all right," said he, "but I am not."

The young man looked puzzled.

"By which I mean," continued the other, "that Miss Panney's concoction
and the girl's vigorous young nature have thrown off the effects of her
nap in the haunted garret, and th