purchased by her father a short time
before the occurrences which I am about to relate. A wide lawn at the
back of the mansion sloped down to the bank of a small stream,
along the verge of which, without intervening bank or path, ran the
terminating wall of the grounds. The stables were also situated at the
foot of this lawn, and the back windows of these stables looked out on
the water. Mrs. X---- had several brothers and sisters, all of whom,
as well as herself, were still children at the period of which she
spoke.

One summer evening her parents accepted an invitation to take tea with
a friend, and went out, leaving the children at play in the library, a
room which opened on the main hall on the ground floor. The front
door was open, and as it grew dark a large hanging lamp which fully
illuminated the hall was lighted, so that every part of it, as well as
the staircase, was fully illuminated. Late in the evening the children
were disturbed at their play in the library by the sound of heavy
footsteps ascending the outer steps and then pacing along the hall.
Imagining that it was their parents who had returned earlier than
they expected, they rushed to the door to greet them, but to their
astonishment they could see no one, though the heavy steps were
still heard traversing the hall, ascending the staircase, and finally
resounding on the floor of a room overhead. The children summoned the
servants, who merely laughed at their story, till one of the maids,
who had been busy up stairs, came down and said that her master and
mistress must surely have returned, as she had heard them walking
along the entry and afterward entering one of the rooms. Upon this,
one of the men-servants went up stairs and made a careful search, but
without rinding any one. In the midst of the excitement the lady and
gentleman of the house returned home, and upon hearing the story the
gentleman himself instituted a second and more vigorous search, which,
like the first, was wholly without result.

Some time after this the children were playing under their nurse's
care on the lawn at the back of the house one gray, dismal afternoon
in the early autumn. The attention of the whole party was suddenly
attracted by the figure of a man passing slowly outside of the
stone wall that stretched along the foot of the lawn, and finally
disappearing behind the stable. As he did so a tremendous uproar arose
among the horses in the stable, and on examination