household affairs seemed to be conducted in some measure after the master s corrected perhaps by a little quiet management of the daughter s there was a great degree of simplicity and good humoured indulgence the came into the room without being called merely to look at their master and hear of his adventures they would stand listening at the door until he had finished a story and then go off on a broad grin to repeat it in the kitchen a couple of pet negro children were playing about the floor with the dogs and sharing with them their bread and butter all the looked hearty and happy and the table was set for the evening the variety and abundance of good household luxuries bore testimony to the open handed liberality of the and the notable of his daughter in the evening there dropped in several of the of the place the van and the and the and others of hey den s to hear an account of his expedition for he was the of and his exploits and adventures were favourite topics of conversation among the inhabitants while these sat together about the door of the hall and telling long twilight stories was seated entertaining the daughter on a window bench he had already got on intimate terms for those were not times of false reserve and idle ceremony and besides there is something wonderfully to a lover s suit in the delightful dusk of a long summer evening it gives courage to the most � j timid tongue and hides the of the the stars alone brightly and now and then a fire fly streamed his transient light before the window or wandering into the room flew gleaming about the ceiling what whispered in her ear that long summer evening it is impossible to say his words were so low and indistinct that they never reached the ear of the historian it is probable however that they were to the purpose for he had a natural talent at pleasing the sex and was never long in company with a without paying proper court to it in the mean time the visitors one by one departed who had fairly talked himself silent sat nodding alone in his chair by the door when he was suddenly aroused by a hearty salute with which had rounded oflf one of his periods and which echoed through the still chamber like the report of a pistol the started up rubbed his eyes called for lights and observed that it was high time to go to bed though on parting for the night he squeezed heartily by the hand looked kindly in his face and shook his head for the well remembered what he himself had been at the s age the chamber in which our hero was lodged was spacious and with oak it was furnished with clothes presses and mighty of drawers well and glittering with brass ornaments these contained ample stock of family linen for the dutch had always a pride in showing off their household treasures to strangers s mind however was too full to take particular note of the objects around him yet he could not help continually comparing the free open hearted of this establishment with the sordid housekeeping at doctor s still there was something that the enjoyment the idea that he must take leave of his hearty host and pretty hostess and cast him self once more adrift upon the world to linger here would be folly he should only get deeper in love and for a poor variety like himself to to the daughter of the great hey den � it was madness to think of such a thing the very kindness that the girl had shown towards him prompted him on reflection to hasten his departure it would be a poor return for the frank hospitality of his host to his daughter s heart in an attachment in a word was like many other young of exceeding good hearts and giddy heads who think after they act and act differently from what they think who make excellent over night and forget to keep them the next morning this is a fine conclusion truly of my voyage said he as he almost buried himself in a feather bed and drew the fresh white sheets up to his chin here am i instead of finding a bag of money to carry home launched in a strange place with scarcely a d in my pocket and what is worse have jumped ashore up to my very ears in love into the bargain however added he after some pause stretching himself and turning himself in bed i m in good quarters for the present at least so e en enjoy the present moment and let the next take care of itself i dare say all will work out some how or other for the best as he said these words he reached out his hand to the candle when he was suddenly struck with astonishment and dismay for he thought he beheld the phantom of the haunted house staring on him from a dusky part of the chamber a second look reassured him as he perceived that what he had taken for the was in fact nothing but a portrait that hung in a shadowy corner just behind a clothes press it was however the precise representation of his nightly visitor the same cloak and the same beard and fixed eye the same broad hat with a feather hanging over one side now called to mind the resemblance he had frequently remarked between his host and the old man of the haunted house and was fully convinced that they were in some way connected and that some especial destiny had governed his voyage he lay gazing on the portrait with almost as much awe as he had gazed on the ghostly original until the shrill house clock 