Up in Ardmuirland

s, will speak to him."

e a look at Tim, our pony, I heard from the open door

y _h_age you'll have learned to take no 'eed of such nonsense! There's no such a thing; and I'm surpri

nny dogmatizing on spiritualism

as she suddenly emerged from the kitchen, wrathfully bran

ghost of him

e peaceful, if prosaic, slaughter

g the possibility of visits from another world, and at once seized the opport

y papers-is something past belief! Not but what Elsie is a good, quiet girl enough, and reg'lar at her duti

n token of a

from America, and back she comes with a cock-and-bull story of a _h_app

d. "That's strange! Whe

education and experience. He was running home in the moonlight and thought he sa

t the notion. "It couldn't have been poor old Archie.

your Penny Catechism,' I said, 'and see how strong it is against dealing with the

innocent of any such forbidden practices. But I refrained fr

t I could get no coherent account of what Aleck was supposed to have seen. So I left her to vent h

ory pruning of berry bushes. He had on his Sunday suit, and was unusually smartened up for a weekday; for it was but natural that neighbors might be expected to drop in for information as to the supernatural manifestations he had expe

hy that it would have needed an expert barrister to draw out any satisfactory information from so bashful a witness. Luckily his mother had e

to accept the invitation on the condition of his return home by midnight. As is not unusual in such cases, the attractions of the dance had led the youth to postpone his departure, minute by minute,

r later than usual one Saturday evening, owing to the exceptionally large number awaiting their turn in the church. On reaching home about half-past eight on a spring evening, she became aware of her father standing in the dusk

chaipel or nae chaipel; ye'll nae

ficult to understand Aleck's desire to reach Fan

or it was a cloudy night, and the lad would have had difficulty in finding his way had it not been so familiar. Curiosity urged Aleck to investigate the mystery of the light, and, forgetful for the moment of his father's injunction, he crept quietly to the unglazed window and looked through the opening. Not a sound revealed the presence of any human being within. A silence, accentuated no doubt by his startled imagination, seemed to hang over the place. He was starting on aga

. The circumstance tended to render his story more worthy of credence than it might otherwise h

ified; "while as to drink-not a drop of spirits has passed his l

al of the maternal statemen

quantity to me as it would be to this country-bred lad and his family. I took care, however, to breathe no word of my suspicions

ide to bring back the trap. Colonel Ashol was by way of being civil to Val and myself, and frequently invited us; my brother, however, seldom accepted, and was always glad when I undertook to represe

ion. Val looked the matter up once, and discovered that it had been a dependenc

sighting the house. It was a big, roomy place, with fine large windows and handsome moldings round them-probably portions of the spoils of the ancient erection. A wide portico, supported on stone pillars, stood in fro

the entire roof. This was pierced in such a way as to form the letters com

THE HOUSE THEY LABOR

te, the text had become a striking commentary upon the fortunes of later possessors of sacrilegious spoils; for it was a tradition-upon which the family kept a discreet silence-that three male heirs in direct succession had never lived to inherit the pr

to such "inanities," as he chose to call dinner parties, had he not been otherwise engaged. He had already made an appointment to interview for the first time a girl who lived some distance away and could not be easily postponed; moreover, the occasion was important, being the commencement of a seri

cool entrance hall, waiting for tea. Among them were Mrs. Vansome and her son, to both of whom I was at once presented. They happened to

nd I knew my room from previous visits. The staircase ran along two sides of the hall and led to a broad corridor, upon whic

observer of feminine costume-perhaps because I am not much in ladies' company, or, it may be, because I never had a sister to instruct me; I can only say of this lady's dress, therefore, that it s

The face was that of a woman in an agony of suffering! The wide-open eyes were full of trouble; the whole countenance expressed pain and something like t

eemed to be hastening swiftly toward me. But just as she was almost near enough to touc

gure had passed, determined to do what I could to assist one in such unmistakable need of help. To my astonishment I found that the place was a mere housemaid's closet, fo

as as well as usual. I had read nothing of late that could have conjured up such a figure. As to preternatural manifestations of such a kind-I had but that very day, and but an hour or two ago, passed supercilious judgment on what I thought the credulity of ignoran

or dressing, and I was able to get a smoke and t

d been imaginary; but I could not succeed. I was too firmly convi

, as a relief from a long spell of heavy teaching work, to spend a few days at Ardmuir House, where his mother was then staying. He was dressed like an ordinary priest; this, as he explained, was out of cons

again it was almost divulged to my companion; but I shrank from being laughed at as a victim to superstitious imaginings. I had a priest for a brother, and no one k

. I did not fear further revelations, for my bedroom was nowhere near the scene of the apparition. I must confess to a momentary cree

ther surprised to find the Benedictine already pacing the broad walk under the terrace, which was out of view of the windows. He was not smoking, though, and when I accosted him it seemed to me that he looked somewhat disturbed and embarrassed. We passed a few desultory remarks, and then he asked wheth

much like to consult Father Fleming upon a certain matter, and if you coul

t of an agreeable drive with a pleasant companion, for I had been greatly attracted by the young monk; but I was doomed to disappointmen

n the trap; they had arranged that Father Vansome should get down at a point where their roads diverged. I was rather astonished to lea

har's ghost story. Although I could not account by any natural means for the event which had startled me at Ardmuir House, I was nevertheless still sceptical with regard to the supposed apparition at the mill-house. Indeed,

more close investigation convinced me of trickery. Flung away into a corner was a small brush bearing traces of luminous paint, and in a heap of rubbish I discerned the very lid of a small tin of that effective spiritualistic medium. No further proof was needed. By lucky chance I discovered what appeared to be a clue to the reason of all this mystification. Loosened stones in t

he meal I was inclined to make merry over my find; but I had little success in ga

priests would think of it. As I led up to it by degrees I saw the dark eyes of Father Vansome light up with expectation. Both he

finished my relation, "that what you saw was neither an hallucination n

a young man, who wore the habit of his own Order. The woman fixed upon him eyes full of entreaty, and implored him in piteous accents to offer Mass for her soul, for it was in his power to release her from grievous torments. Father Vansome t

standing by his bed. Her eyes were full of intense supplication, and her hands stretche

ame, who you are and

e in a clear,

g done to my stepson, Gilbert, a monk of your Or

figure

ed as himself. From her lips he learned that she too had been visited by the figure he had himself seen. The woman, answering to the description of his g

Ardmuir House that morning that his mother had confided the matter to Mrs. Ashol, and had heard from her that previous visitors had experienced similar apparitions; on further consideration it was discovered-though Mrs. Ashol had not realized it before-t

oon after his conversion he had entered a monastery on the continent, with a view to returning, as so many of his religious brethren were then doing, to work for the restoration of his fellow-countrymen to the Church. It was generally thought that Dame Elizabeth, in her ambition for the welfare of her own son, had encouraged her husband in his religious bias, and secur

drove over to assist at it. Her prayers and mine were thus united w

derful still-the curse seems to have been averted by the laying of the ghost; for young Gilbert Ashol has

ght of their increasing interest in all things Catholic, Val is beginning to entertain hopes of the