ufferer from this 'abnormal
state of the nervous system,' as the master of the house preferred to
call the mystery. The servants grew so much afraid to move about the
building alone, that their usefulness was much impaired. And at length
one after another ran away, and took to the woods and mountain caves,
preferring to starve or beg rather than live in luxury in the haunted
house. New servants were procured to supply the places of the old ones,
until the latter could be brought back; but none of them stayed long;
nothing could induce them to remain in the 'haunted house.' The story of
the gipsy girl's ghost got around in the neighborhood. Not all the
despotic power of Mr. Dubarry could prevent this. The house came to be
pointed out and avoided by the ignorant and superstitious, as a haunted
and accursed spot. Even the more intelligent and enlightened portion of
the community gradually forsook it; for it was not very agreeable to
visit a family where the mistress was so full of 'flaws and starts'
that, even at the head of her own table, she would often startle the
whole company by suddenly looking over her right shoulder and uttering a
piercing scream.

"And so the house was abandoned by high and low, rich and poor alike.
And the worthy gossips of the neighborhood wisely nodded over their
tea-cups, and declared that the deserted condition of the house was but
a just retribution for the sins of its master.

"And in the meantime the health of the mistress grew worse and worse.
The most serious fears were entertained for her life and reason, death
or insanity seeming to be the most probable issue of her malady. Medical
advice was called in. The doctor, either in complaisance or sincerity,
agreed with Mr. Dubarry's theory of the patient's condition, ascribing
her illness to an 'abnormal state of the nervous system,' and he advised
change of air and scene, and he held forth good hopes that within a very
few months, when the young wife should become a mother, her health might
be perfectly reestablished.

"Under these circumstances, early in the new year, Mr. Dubarry took his
wife to Williamsburg, to spend the winter among the gayeties of the
colonial Governor's court.

"The haunted house was shut up, and left to itself. Not a man or woman
could be found to live in it, for love or money.

"In the glories of the colonial capital, Mrs. Dubarry completely
recovered from her nervous malady. She was visited by no more 'optical