, 1892-12-24

gave me 3 start, OUT bnH lever q LOC oN on
weakened my courage as to make me afraid 10
face the mysterious object, and to find our, II !:
possible, what it was. AS l drove on, the
figure changed somewhat in form. an before
arrived at it [ hal already discovered thPtlt was
nothing but the white mari covering the
rising road beyond, and formed iuto the h5nro
of q woman by the overhanglng branch's or
the trees, rs they then grew, between which
the mari was seen. This observation interested
me much, for | thought that | had here found
a kew to some at least of the strange things
which 1 had been told about Bonavista. That
it did not give a key to all, | was shortly to- {.
be taught in a way never to be forgotten.
We were now very near to Christmas, and
young Gayman had given me an invitation to"
meet a few friends for a game Of whist on
Christmas eve. Gayman knew how to do
things Of that sort properly, and we were q jol-
Iy party. In considerations OF my escape from
the grasp Of the fSver having been 50 recent
| was allowel to leave early, aid mounted my
horse at about half'past eleven to start for
Stronghold. It was a clear and still starlight
night. On the road | fell to thinking of past
Christmases spent in my old home, IN my
Young days, and of the many changes, some of
them sad ones, that had occurred since those
happy times. It was probably from my having
passed into this penslve mood that L did not
nQLlG6 L1aL Inv UOLh0 OA IA AOSG ~AG
went I'D to .the house at Bonavista. l was
first made aware of it by his stopping at
the thibet tree to which was accustomed to
tie him when l visited the family. l
looked up and recognised the stables
and carriage. house on my left, and the
residence with it's pleasant little garden before
it on my right. Not a soul was moving, the
place was as still as death. Curiosity p-ompt-
ed me to move the horse forward q little, so as
to got a good view of the house, IN winch l
had spent so many pleasant hours, now that
it was. 80 to speak, asleep. In front 81 me
was a long cottage containing rooms tor the
accumulation Of the very lew labourers thst
ara needed about a small stock estate, and to
the right. past the house, and q little higher on
the slope of the hill, were the cattle pens and
a very large cistern with an apron behind it
on che slope Of the hill above. Q heavy mas of
masonry altogether, and not very cheerful
looking even in daylight, but now appearing In
the dim light Of the stars peculiarly cola and
deDressing. looked round at the house;
thsre was not even q glimmer of light from
anv Of the windows, and some OF them hsdthe
shutters CLOSED. A terrible feeling of lonell-
ness came over me, and | could not help
recalling some of J0nas's dark hints ABOUT
what miglrt sometimes be seen here. | was
inst beginning to be cheered by the sight OF
the pretty WhlC0 Inuuo 7ISiaS tu6C Slo"A0
like tiny stars in the darkness on part 0! the
garden fence, when my eyes wandered again to-
the great oistern and | caught eight OF a dark
arch that led under part of the masonry and
whsre there was a tap for drawing water irons
a tank adjoining the cistern. The sight OF
this gloomy opening brought me back to that
dismal frame of mind from which the MOWERS
had begun to rescue me. While | gazed at it
was startled to see a white figure emerge
from the darkness Of the area. AS 1t came
out it turned to it's right and took " path hat
led down past a line of Trees to the cottage IN
front of nae. was just settling 1t IN my mud
that it was a woman from the cottage, who Tor
some reason or other required water at this
late hour. and had been to draw it, when, look"
ING for The bucket which ! expected to see on
her head, / saw, to my horror, that not Only
tvAs there no bucket, but that the figure was
without a head. "Ahl" / groaned "then, after
all am doomed to meet Jonas's' headless
watohman.' The figure reached the cottage
and then turned into the path close to Whloh
7 had stopped my horse. Just in front OF the
horses head the path branched into two one
passing on my left down to the stables, In"
other on my right, up towards the house. The
6g,1ra came right on towards me, one arm
hanging by its side, the other benz and lying
across the waist. saw that it was a black
man. and az he drew closer | could distinguish