ube of soap, to remove the wrinkles and sunburn
from their crestfallen countenances. Which done, they humbly presented
themselves in the library, where the doctor, looking very stern, stood
already accoutred for the journey home. The leave-taking between the
two old gentlemen was subdued and solemn, and then in grim silence Dr
Prudhom stalked forth into the night, followed at a respectful distance
by his trembling disciples.

Till that moment the thought of Bilk had never once crossed the minds of
the agitated amateur gipsies, but it flashed across them now as the
doctor strode straight for the cross roads. What if the miserable
Alexander Magnus should have swallowed the absurd bait laid for him, and
be in the act of making his fortune on the very spot they were to pass!

They held a hurried consultation in whisper on this terrible
possibility. "We shall be expelled if it comes out!" groaned Dell.
"Yes; we may as well tell him at once," said Morgan. "He may not be
there, you know; perhaps we'd better wait and see, in case."

So they went on in the doctor's wake, nearer and nearer to the fatal
cross roads at every step.

Suddenly, as they came within a hundred yards of the signpost, the
doctor stood still and uttered an exclamation, the meaning of which they
were able to guess only too readily. Straining their eyes in the
direction indicated, they could discern a white shadowy form hovering in
the road before them. "What's that?" exclaimed the doctor in a whisper.
Dell was conscious of a secret nudge as Morgan gasped--"Oh, it looks
like a ghost! Oh, doctor!" and the two boys clung wildly to the
doctor's arm, trembling and gasping with well-feigned terror.

Dr Prudhom trembled too, but his agitation was unfeigned. The three
stood still breathless, and watched the dim figure as it hovered across
their path, and then vanished into the darkness.

"What can it be?" said the doctor, bracing himself up with an effort,
and preparing to walk on.

"Oh, please, sir," cried the boys, "don't go on! do let us turn back!
Oh dear! oh dear!"

"Foolish boys!" said the doctor; "haven't you sense enough to know that
no such thing as--ah! there it is again!"

Yes, there it was again. A faint beam of the moon broke through the
clouds, and lit up the white figure once more where it stood close to
the sign-post. And as they watched it seemed to grow, rising higher and
higher till its head nearly touched the cross-bars. The