a little later was able to tell
him that his surmise as to his friends' mistake was correct. All
Gravelton was thrilled by the news that the spiritual part of Mr. John
Blows was walking the earth, and much exercised as to his reasons for so
doing.

"Seemed such a monkey trick for 'im to do," complained Mr. Carter, to the
listening circle at the Peal o' Bells. "'I'm a-looking at you, Joe,' he
ses, and he waggled his 'ead as if it was made of india-rubber."

"He'd got something on 'is mind what he wanted to tell you," said a
listener, severely; "you ought to 'ave stopped, Joe, and asked 'im what
it was."

"I think I see myself," said the shivering Mr. Carter. "I think I see
myself."

"Then he wouldn't 'ave troubled you any more," said the other.

Mr. Carter turned pale and eyed him fixedly. "P'r'aps it was only a
death-warning," said another man.

"What d'ye mean, 'only a death-warning'?" demanded the unfortunate Mr.
Carter; "you don't know what you're talking about."

"I 'ad an uncle o' mine see a ghost once," said a third man, anxious to
relieve the tension.

"And what 'appened?" inquired the first speaker. "I'll tell you after
Joe's gone," said the other, with rare consideration.

Mr. Carter called for some more beer and told the barmaid to put a little
gin in it. In a pitiable state of "nerves" he sat at the extreme end of
a bench, and felt that he was an object of unwholesome interest to his
acquaintances. The finishing touch was put to his discomfiture when a
well-meaning friend in a vague and disjointed way advised him to give up
drink, swearing, and any other bad habits which he might have contracted.

[Illustration: "In a pitiable state of 'nerves' he sat at the extreme end
of a bench."]

The committee of the Ancient Order of Camels took the news calmly, and
classed it with pink rats and other abnormalities. In reply to Mrs.
Blows's request for the capital sum, they expressed astonishment that she
could be willing to tear herself away from the hero's grave, and spoke of
the pain which such an act on her part would cause him in the event of
his being conscious of it. In order to show that they were reasonable
men, they allowed her an extra shilling that week.

The hero threw the dole on the bedroom floor, and in a speech bristling
with personalities, consigned the committee to perdition. The
confinement was beginning to tell upon him, and two nights afterward,
just before midnight, he sl