disappearances. Some thought he was engaged
in unlawful business, others suggested that his absence might be
attributed to the supernatural, but those who were less flighty
concluded that he simply went off on periodical visits to his native
land.

On his return from one of these visits, however, the old gentleman
brought with him a beautiful young girl. She was little more than a
child in appearance, and had the soft eyes, olive complexion and lithe,
graceful figure of a Spaniard. She was never seen alive after she passed
the shadow of the old man's doorway. A few weeks later the old gentleman
disappeared as mysteriously as if he had been snatched up into the
clouds. The old couple who kept his home walked away one day and never
returned. There was an investigation, and in a hole dug in the cellar
was found the body of the beautiful young girl. There were no marks on
her body, and it was supposed she had been smothered. The exact date of
this tragedy is not fixed. Inspector Byrnes says that if it ever
occurred it was before his time.

The ghost, if ghost there is, is undoubtedly the spirit of this
unfortunate and nameless young woman. A _World_ reporter watched the
Bleecker street ruins with the crowd last night and was there at the
midnight hour, but never a sign of a ghost did he see. There were those
in the crowd, nevertheless, who thought or pretended to think that they
did. Once there was a rattling sound in the ruins, which caused a
commotion among the lookers-on, but it was only because a small boy had
shied a brick at the old wall. The living spirits boomed the liquor
business in the saloons of the vicinity. A skull and cross-bones over
one of these bars was surmounted with the somewhat appropriate legend
freshly painted:

"In the midst of life we are in debt."

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Transcriber's Note: The original is missing text following this
mark. Both it and a reprint of the same were searched and were printed
in this way.

* * * * *

Transcriber's notes:

Obvious printing punctuation errors were repaired.

On pages 50-51, the top paragraph had a printing problem in the
page gutter. From the letters that were left, the following changes
were made in the text. (Changes noted by **)

Nothing more chanced for the rest of the night. Nor, indeed,
had I long to wait before the dawn broke. Nor till it**