t now. I am being punished for my
sins. I must atone, I must atone."

He continued in this sad state for a few days, weighed down with
this strange malady, which, alas, often preys upon our finest
intellects.

Then, a reaction set in, and he began to improve gradually.

He felt quite well at times, then re-assumed his moody ways; rays of
sunshine sometimes darted from behind the clouds. "I wish the sun
would disperse the clouds," he sighed.

One evening, when his head was tolerably clear, he was seized with a
desire to visit his parents' grave.

Without consulting anyone, he immediately proceeded towards the
Foulon. When he came to the iron gate, it was closed. He was
bitterly disappointed. By climbing over it, he would risk being
empaled on the iron spikes, or otherwise injured.

Presently he thought of the wooden wicket situated a little lower
down. He proceeded thither and climbed over it without difficulty. A
stream confronted him. He crossed it on a plank thrown across the
rill. It was very dark, but he did not think of it. He was alone in
this graveyard, but he experienced no fear. He felt happier than he
had done for a long time. "Had he not adopted the pessimistic view
of life."

He walked straight to the grave where his father and mother lay
buried and seated himself near it. Just then, a gentle breeze caused
the stately trees surrounding the graveyard to waft their leafy tops
to and fro. Nature was rocking itself to sleep.

Even as it slumbered, it now and then heaved a sigh, sympathizing
with the lonely man who pondered near his parents' grave.

He soliloquized: "Around me, the dead; beneath that turf, the dead;
above me, beyond those glimmering stars, somewhere in that infinity
of space, in which man with his very limited understanding loses
himself, the departed souls...."

Suddenly, he perceived a white form advancing towards him. If hair
stands on end, Frank's did. His heart beat at a fearful rate. What
could this be? It certainly must be a ghost. "I have laughed at
apparitions, but I am now going to be punished for my incredulity,"
he said to himself.

The ghost moved and came nearer. Frank trembled from head to foot.
When he had recovered sufficient courage to scrutinize this form, it
suddenly disappeared.

The young man fixed his eyes on the place where the ghost had
vanished, for ten minutes; then turned his gaze in another
direction. He soon recovered his senses, and fell into a reve