. It is Mr Ben Burton, ma'am," she said in a higher key, and
turning to the old lady.

"Ah, Ben! You are grown indeed, and you are welcome, lad. You are
always welcome," she added after a minute, and made some inquiries of
her son. "And you have come back in the very nick of time, for there is
an Irish gentleman wants to marry your mother, and we do not like him,
do we, Emily?"

"Oh! No, no," said Emily, shaking her head; "it would never do." This
gave me the opportunity of saying that Mr Gillooly had taken his
departure, and also that there was another very strong reason for my
mother's not marrying him--the return of my father. The old lady's
astonishment knew no bounds on hearing this. "And my girls are out!
Dear me, they will be surprised when they come back. What a pity they
should not have been here. It is a mercy your mother did not faint away
altogether. And he is actually in the next room. Your father, who has
been killed so many years!"

"They thought he was killed, ma'am," exclaimed Emily. "He could not
have been killed or he would not be here!"

"No! To be sure! To be sure!" said the old lady. "That is very clear,
and very wonderful it is; but if he had been killed it would be still
more wonderful! Well, I am very glad he has come back." After a little
time I went back to my father and mother, and brought him in to see Mrs
Schank and the Little Lady, both of whom welcomed him cordially. I
inquired after Mrs Lindars.

"She is much as usual," answered Emily, "but she looks almost as old as
grandmamma. You know I call Mrs Schank grandmamma now. She really is
like a grandmother to me, and the Misses Schank are like kind aunts,
though I look upon your mother, Ben, quite as a mother, for one she has
been to me all my life."

I was doubtful how I ought to convey her husband's message to Mrs
Lindars. Indeed, I felt that it would be a very difficult task.
However, it was managed. I determined first to consult my mother and
the poor lady's sisters. At length they returned, and various were the
notes of exclamation and astonishment with which they heard of the
existence and return of my father, and still more so when they saw him.

"Well, I must say you are a very substantial, good-looking ghost," said
Miss Anna Maria, in her funny, chirruping voice, "and a much better
husband you will make her, I am sure, than that strange Irishman who has
been haunting the village for the last week."