er circumstances the baron would have been inflexible, for
he was tenacious of paternal authority, and devoutly obstinate in all
family feuds; but he loved his daughter; he had lamented her as lost; he
rejoiced to find her still alive; and, though her husband was of a
hostile house, yet, thank Heaven, he was not a goblin. There was
something, it must be acknowledged, that did not exactly accord with his
notions of strict veracity, in the joke the knight had passed upon him
of his being a dead man; but several old friends present, who had served
in the wars, assured him that every stratagem was excusable in love, and
that the cavalier was entitled to especial privilege, having lately
served as a trooper.

Matters, therefore, were happily arranged. The baron pardoned the young
couple on the spot. The revels at the castle were resumed. The poor
relations overwhelmed this new member of the family with loving
kindness; he was so gallant, so generous--and so rich. The aunts, it is
true, were somewhat scandalized that their system of strict seclusion
and passive obedience should be so badly exemplified, but attributed it
all to their negligence in not having the windows grated. One of them
was particularly mortified at having her marvelous story marred, and
that the only specter she had ever seen should turn out a counterfeit;
but the niece seemed perfectly happy at having found him substantial
flesh and blood--and so the story ends.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] The erudite reader, well versed in good-for-nothing lore, will
perceive that the above Tale must have been suggested to the old Swiss
by a little French anecdote, a circumstance said to have taken place at
Paris.

[3] _I. e._, CAT'S-ELBOW. The name of a family of those parts very
powerful in former times. The appellation, we are told, was given in
compliment to a peerless dame of the family, celebrated for her fine
arm.

THE SPECTER OF TAPPINGTON

COMPILED BY RICHARD BARHAM

The Specter of Tappington

From _The Ingoldsby Legends_

COMPILED BY RICHARD BARHAM

"It is very odd, though; what can have become of them?" said Charles
Seaforth, as he peeped under the valance of an old-fashioned bedstead,
in an old-fashioned apartment of a still more old-fashioned manor-house;
"'tis confoundedly odd, and I can't make it out at all. Why, Barney,
where are they?--and where the d----l are you?"

No answer was returned to this appeal; and the lieutenant, who was,