Strange Visitors

dy man, and with his aged housekeeper and myself, led a solitary and unsoc

red, repressed little thing, revelling in strange fancies in the spidery attic rooms, and looking down through the

housekeeper, the gloom and dinginess of the bare rooms had grown insupportable to me. These alone I might have endured, but added to them were other sources of disquiet, not the least of

my uncle took many, I one day discovered an advertisement, w

a boy of eleven years. Upon reading this advertisement, I i

eipt of mine, and stating that as I was the only appli

f approval, adding that he hoped I would do well, as I could expect no f

aracter; but pleasure predominated. Hope beckoned me on; and the sadness attendant on b

n. Towards nightfall we stopped at a station in a desolate, sparsely-inhabited district. My road dive

e desolate waiting-room, to see if any fellow-creature was expecting me. As I did

mpanying the question by

long arms and a high back, awaiting my answ

sent for M

drive here and fetch home a Miss Reef-if you are that pe

ado we proceeded to the carriage, which

round me, I ensconced myself in a corner of the vehicle, and watched th

th before a dark, massy object, the form of which my dozy ey

ajar. An old woman, the feminine counterpart of my sulky driver, stood in the dimly-lighted passage-way to receive me. She vo

l up the stairway to a chamber evidently prepared for my use. The apartment was prettily furnished,

g with a tray containing refreshments. These she set before me with silent hospitality; the

urbed by dreams, which thoug

e face, great sad eyes, and long yellow hair, stood in the arched doorway and pressed me back with her clammy hand. I started up from my pillow in alarm to find myself alone; the pale moonbeams streaming through the looped curtains of the window and glancing upon my forehead, I thought, probably ac

shoulders. As she caught my eye she lifted her fi