e woman standing up in it was clothed in a shroud. Her back was
towards us, and she had evidently not heard our approach. As we were
creeping along slowly, the engines were almost noiseless, and there was
hardly a ripple as our fore-foot cut the dark water. Suddenly there was
a wild cry from the bridge--Italians are certainly very excitable; hoarse
commands were given to the Quartermaster at the wheel; the engine-room
bell clanged. On the instant, as it seemed, the ship's head began to
swing round to starboard; full steam ahead was in action, and before one
could understand, the Apparition was fading in the distance. The last
thing I saw was the flash of a white face with dark, burning eyes as the
figure sank down into the coffin--just as mist or smoke disappears under
a breeze."

BOOK I: THE WILL OF ROGER MELTON

The Reading of the Will of Roger Melton and all that Followed

Record made by Ernest Roger Halbard Melton, law-student of the Inner
Temple, eldest son of Ernest Halbard Melton, eldest son of Ernest Melton,
elder brother of the said Roger Melton and his next of kin.

I consider it at least useful--perhaps necessary--to have a complete and
accurate record of all pertaining to the Will of my late grand-uncle
Roger Melton.

To which end let me put down the various members of his family, and
explain some of their occupations and idiosyncrasies. My father, Ernest
Halbard Melton, was the only son of Ernest Melton, eldest son of Sir
Geoffrey Halbard Melton of Humcroft, in the shire of Salop, a Justice of
the Peace, and at one time Sheriff. My great-grandfather, Sir Geoffrey,
had inherited a small estate from his father, Roger Melton. In his time,
by the way, the name was spelled Milton; but my great-great-grandfather
changed the spelling to the later form, as he was a practical man not
given to sentiment, and feared lest he should in the public eye be
confused with others belonging to the family of a Radical person called
Milton, who wrote poetry and was some sort of official in the time of
Cromwell, whilst we are Conservatives. The same practical spirit which
originated the change in the spelling of the family name inclined him to
go into business. So he became, whilst still young, a tanner and
leather-dresser. He utilized for the purpose the ponds and streams, and
also the oak-woods on his estate--Torraby in Suffolk. He made a fine
business, and accumulated a considerable fortune, with a pa