The Ghost of Guir House

the revelations which Ah Ben had made. The things he had seen and the words he had heard were amazing, but they had not terrified him; and when he

lingered over his second cup of tea in the hope that the young lady would join him; but after loitering quite beyond the usual hour, he sauntered out i

servant had been heard, and Paul sat consuming cigarettes at a rate that showed clearly his impatience

y let me know at wha

her answer i

HEN

peared occasionally. Clearly there was nothing to do but wait. But waiting brought neither Dorothy nor Ah Ben, and Paul began to wonder seriously where his hosts could have taken themselves. The time wore on, and the shadow of a tall fir showed that the hour of noon had passed. Had he been left in sole possession of this old mansion, whose history was so amazing, and yet whose very existence appeared mythical? He wandered back into the house, and passing through the hall, stopped suddenly. His note was gone. Surely it had

waited all the morni

tient. Is it business

l me frankly just wha

am avoided from indif

e. Have I outstayed my

me an answer and an

ust how lonely I will

A

nt out for a walk; and thinking it possible that he m

d he tell, perhaps she had left the old place forever! Henley had not realized until now what a deep and overpowering dependence had suddenly developed in him toward these people. They seemed to hold the key to another world in a more practical and tangible way than he had ever deemed it possible for any mortal-appearing man to do. Even to be shut out from the wonderful city of Levachan would be an overwhelming loss, and how could he ever hope to see it again without their aid? To be deprived forever of the spiritual influence of these eccentric, half-earthly acquaintances was a thought he could not tolerate. Even the horrors through which they had passed appeared trivial as compared with the glimpses they had afforded him of happiness. But to see these things-to feel the mystery of their power and beauty just beginning to descend and take possession of him-and then to be snatched back to earth, with the inability to return, was too horrible, and like the ecstatic visions of a drowning man cut short by rescue. While he had Ah Ben and Dorothy within his reach, he felt the possibility of return; but suddenly they had gone, and for the first time he realized what they had been to him

leasantly to Paul at that moment. He stood gazing long and earnestly in the direction taken by the departing footsteps, and doing so, his attention was attracted by the flight of a bird which came swooping towards him from the depths of the woodland glade. Nearer and nearer it came, uttering a strange, shrill cry, as if to attract his attention; and then, after circling in the air above his head, came fluttering down, and lighted upon the gate-post at his elbow. It was D

R H

call you my own beca

w the memory of our f

e, for I must go with

at I don't mind telli

in anticipation, I re

caresses; for you wer

had ever known-and t

on the thought of dra

aven and earth, which

more than a century,

hrall of the one I lov

ou are fitted, whil

re. You say that you

liness to mine? I, wh

y of friendship; and

of hunger satisfied,

t of these, dear Paul

ne-to live in an emp

es? Yes, you will say,

yet you do not know

e life for which God

for nothing. You kno

d; to be feared! You

eet, and they are plea

friends, as they to

eel blessed and happy

although you

tell you a strange thi

m the hour of your bir

have guided and helpe

love. I have helped to

of possession is doub

o lead you astray. Gra

ripe, and then menta

thought you received,

your strongest char

ity-as well as from t

influence. You came,

ver know-until my uns

while seeking my own p

ended all. I could go

ll come to you in spi

love is more intense

ng men are wont to f

dreams. Do you no

dered on reading th

, but remember that yo

through the power of h

ngs as in you

ittle station of Guir,

ectation is the proper

pression; and therefor

Ah Ben and I together

ith the cart and hor

stage which was waitin

The incident of the b

means to bring you ba

re for the first time,

l form, visible as a s

I appeared thus at the

e, and so I came to y

ngled that men often l

r, and to those who

de more real than th

e at home in neither,

think sometimes of he

e only joy; and she w

not know it, exce

happily of the dead,

understand. If you lo

for what you call the

anscending those of t

e darkness. Disturb

hought unsettle the se

ich has ruined me be

of loneliness, and be

dear Paul, as here. Re

irit guide

n, in an agony of horror, beheld the roofless ruin of the old house as Ah Ben had shown it to him. The crumbling walls and broken belfry, half hidden amid the encroaching trees, were all that was left of Guir House and its spacious grounds. Heaps of stone and piles of rubbish beset his path, and the open portals, choked with wild grass and bushes, showed glimpses of the sky beyond. In a panic of terror lest his reason had gone, Paul flew madly on in the direction from which Dorothy