am safe!" exclaimed the nobleman: "the ghost was a liar, after
all!--some wine--what a fool I was to be cast down by such a
circumstance! But," continued he, "it is time for bed; we shall be up
early, and out with the hounds to-morrow. By my faith, it is half-past
twelve; so good night." He went to his chamber, ignorant that the
ominous hour was not yet past. His guests, notwithstanding their
avowed unbelief, remained together in fearful dread. They heard the
valet descending from his master's room; it was just twelve o'clock.
Lord Lyttelton's bell rang violently; the company ran to his
apartment, and found the unhappy nobleman lying in bed lifeless, with
his countenance terribly convulsed.

Shortly before the death of an old Roman king, several prodigies of an
alarming nature appeared. When he first became sick there arose a
violent tempest of wind, which blew down the cross from one of the
churches. After this followed a terrible earthquake, which shook the
whole city. Moreover an old eagle, a domestic of the royal palace,
that had lived there many years, took wing the day before the king's
sickness began, and flew away no one knew whither; then the bells of
the imperial chapel rang thrice of their own accord in the space of
twelve hours. Strange apparitions were seen at midnight, some of them
hovering in the air, and others of them lurking about the palace
court. In particular, a funeral procession, consisting of unearthly
beings, was observed one night going along the principal thoroughfare
from the palace to the place of sepulchre, where the royal remains
were soon afterwards laid.

From the _Eddas_ we learn that when these singular works were written
or compiled, a belief must have prevailed of the existence of ghosts,
spirits, and demons in various forms. We therefore propose giving a
few examples of ghost stories from the _Eddas_:--After the death of
Helge (a Scandinavian warrior), a maid witnessed, in the evening, his
ghost, with a numerous train, riding into the cairn where Helge's
remains were deposited. The brave damsel inquired whether it was an
illusion she saw, to which the ghost replied that it was not. When the
maid told Sigrum, Helge's widow, what she had seen, the faithful
mourning wife hastened to the cairn, and, on searching it, sure enough
there was the shade of her dead husband. It addressed her thus: "Thou,
Sigrum, art the cause of Helge lying here, slain by the dew of sorrow.
Thou weepest bur