m seemed to
greet him.

Breathing deeply, he ran in and his mother met him at the door.

"Oh, is it you, Kurt?" she said kindly. "But you are a little late after
all. Was it so hard to leave the beautiful moonlight? Or was it such fun
rushing about? But, Kurt, you are entirely out of breath. Come sit down
a moment with me. After that you have to go to bed; all the others have
gone already."

Usually Kurt would have adored being able to sit alone with his mother
and have all her attention directed towards him. This he could not enjoy
now. Might not his mother ask him further details about his walk? So he
said that he preferred to go to bed right away, and his mother understood
that he was glad to get to rest after running about so ceaselessly. Only
when Kurt lay safely and quietly in bed could he think over what had
happened and how cowardly he had acted.

After all, his mother had clearly told him that there was no ghost in
Wildenstein. Whom then, had he seen in armor and helmet and with a long
mantle? It could not have been Mr. Trius, because he was a short, stout
person, whereas the apparition was a tree-high figure. Might it be a
sentinel at the castle who was ordered to go about? May be the old
castle-barons had always wished an armed sentinel to keep watch. If only
he had not run away! He could have let the sentinel walk up to him and
then he could have told him of his intention. The sentinel could only
have been pleased by his endeavor to get rid of such an old superstition.
If only he had not run away!

Oh, yes, now that Kurt was safely under cover and Bruno's breathing
beside him spoke of his big brother's nearness, it seemed easy enough to
act bravely! If only he had done it! The thing he could not explain to
himself was how anybody could be so horribly tall. That was hardly
credible. Kurt felt at bottom quite sure that it was impossible for
anybody to look like that.

"If only I could have told mother about it!" he sighed. But he felt
dreadfully ashamed. She had absolutely forbidden him troubling himself
about this matter. Even with his intention to get rid of the talk he had
acted against her command. Well, and what had he accomplished? More than
ever the whole village would say to-morrow that the ghost of Wildenstein
was wandering about again. Furthermore he did not know how to gainsay
it. If it only had not been so huge!

When the mother stepped up to her children's bedside later on as usual,
she s