wards found to be the case.

As I was bidding the servant (who did not know me) "good morning" she
asked my name, and upon my mentioning that I was Mr. Nilford's son,
asked me to wait while she fetched a letter which had been left in case
I should call. Mr. Johnson had also left a letter for Miss Grant. This I
said I should have much pleasure in delivering, and took them both.

Arrived home I found Priscilla waiting for me in great anxiety, fearing
that if Walter Johnson was at home something serious between us might
occur. Probably something would have occurred. She seemed greatly upset,
and taking me aside, said she had something to impart to me, which I
must promise to forgive her for. I consented.

"Then, Harry, I must confess to having written to Walter Johnson
yesterday. No, do not look in that terrible manner, for I did it both
for your good and his. I simply informed him that you were home and
would call upon him to-day, so that if he wished to avoid a violent
scene he had better hasten his departure."

I could say nothing to this, as I felt that what she had done had saved
a deal of bother. Then I handed her the letter inscribed with her name.
To my surprise she would not open it herself, and no amount of
persuasion would cause her to. She wished me to open it and read its
contents, that I might see all was fair and straightforward. It merely
asked forgiveness for the writer for having behaved in such an
ungentlemanly manner, and hoping that as all was fair in love and war,
she would think of him as one who, having striven for a great prize, had
failed. Although defeated, he hoped she would remember him as one not
disgraced, etc., etc.

My letter contained a cheque for a hundred pounds, as payment for a
wager lost to me, and wishing me every happiness. I ardently wished I
could have been near the writer at that instant, and I fancy he would
not only have felt most _unhappy_, but that he would have spent a
_mauvais quart d'heure_, as our Gallic neighbours say. So much for
Johnson, who never troubled us again.

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FOOTNOTE:

8: I find, on enquiry, that this Society has some _hundreds_
of well-authenticated accounts of these occult occurrences, and it
really seems that we are often sceptical of these phenomena, without
taking the trouble to investigate the cases that come under our
immediate notice to discover their truthfulness.

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