lick him fair," I says, "and
I get a good chancet I will hit him with a piece of railroad iron fur
you."

Of course, I knowed I would never find him. But what I said seemed to
brighten her up a little.

"But," says I, "if I went too fur with it, and was hung fur it, how
would you feel then, Martha?"

Well, sir, that didn't jar Martha none. She looked kind of dreamy and
said mebby she would go and jine a convent and be a nun. And when she
got to be the head nun she would build a chapel over the tomb where I
was buried in. And every year, on the day of the month I was hung on,
she would lead all the other nuns into that chapel, and the organ would
play mournful, and each nun as passed would lay down a bunch of white
roses onto my tomb. I reckon that orter made me feel good, but somehow
it didn't.

So I changed the subject, and asts her why I ain't seen Miss Hampton
around the place none. Martha says she has a bad sick headache and ain't
been outside the house fur four or five days. I asts her why she don't
wait on her. But she don't want her to, Martha says. She's been staying
in the house ever since we been in town, and jest wants to be let alone.
I thinks all that is kind of funny. And then I seen from the way Martha
is answering my questions that she is holding back something she would
like to tell, but don't think she orter tell. I leaves her alone and
purty soon she says:

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

I tell her sometimes I think I don't believe in 'em, and sometimes I
think I do, but anyhow I would hate to see one. I asts her why does she
ast.

"Because," she says, "because--but I hadn't ought to tell you."

"It's daylight," I says; "it's no use being scared to tell now."

"It ain't that," she says, "but it's a secret."

When she said it was a secret, I knowed she would tell. Martha liked
having her friends help her to keep a secret.

"I think Miss Hampton has seen one," she says, finally, "and that her
staying indoors has something to do with that."

Then she tells me. The night of the day after we camped there, her and
Miss Hampton was out fur a walk. We didn't have any show that night.
They passed right by our camp, and they seen us there by the fire, all
three of us. But they was in the road in the dark, and we was all in the
light, so none of the three of us seen them. Miss Hampton was kind of
scared of us, first glance, fur she gasped and grabbed holt of Martha's
arm all of a sudden so tight sh