ed servant, but, in fact, from his
own point of view at least, he was Mr. Winkle's private secretary and
confidential adviser. He had been on the place "ever sence old Fan was a
yearlin'," which was a long while, indeed; and had come to regard
himself as indispensable. The Winkles treated him as one of the family,
and he reciprocated in truly familiar ways. He sat at the table with
them, helped entertain their guests, and often accompanied them to
church. In regulating matters on the farm Mr. Winkle proposed, but Eph
invariably disposed, in a diplomatic way, of course; and, although his
judgment might be based on false logic, the result was generally
successful and satisfactory.

With all his good qualities and her attachment to him, however, Mrs.
Winkle was not sure that Eph's moral status was quite sound, and she was
inclined to discourage Johnnie's association with him. As a matter of
fact she had overheard Johnnie utter several bad words, of which Eph was
certainly the prime source. But a mother's solicitude was of little
avail when compared with Eph's Delphian wisdom. Johnnie would steal away
to join Eph in the field at every chance, and the information he
acquired at these secret seances, was varied and valuable.

It was Eph who taught him how to tell the time of day by the sun; how to
insert a "dutchman" in the place of a lost suspender button; how to make
bird-traps; and how to "skin the cat." Eph initiated him into the
mysteries of magic and witchcraft, and showed him how to locate a
subterranean vein of water by means of a twig of witch-hazel. Eph also
confided to Johnnie that he himself could stanch the flow of blood or
stop a toothache instantly by force of a certain charm, but he could
not tell how to do this because the secret could be imparted only from
man to woman, or vice versa. Even the shadowy domain of spirits had not
been exempt from Eph's investigations, and he related many a terrifying
experience with "ha'nts."

Johnnie was first introduced to the ghost world one summer night, when
he and Eph had gone fishing together.

"If ye want to ketch the big uns, always go at night in the dark o' the
moon," said Eph, and his piscatorial knowledge was absolute.

They had fished in silence for some time, and Johnnie was nodding, when
Eph suddenly whispered:

"Let's go home, sonny, I think I see a ha'nt down yander."

Johnnie had no idea what a "ha'nt" might be, but Eph's constrained
manner betokened