, 1898-01-01
A Ghost Story.
(ContinNsd from No. 1857

'Esther. did you close the door when you
went outp' sho asked
Eyes ma'am."
How d. you think it now oon.>s to be
open then?'
II dom know, me'am."
"Nor /; but perhaps you did not fasten it
properly, and the wind has blown it open"
"May be, but I thought l had l"tcled it.
Will you have your ten, now ma'am?'
Yes, Miss Wilton would have her tea, and
when Esther came back to remove the tea
tray, she told her that sle did not
feel very we'll and would like her to sleep
that night in Mis- Mary's room, which open.
cd into her own.
II spite of this arrangement, Miss Wilton
got very little sleep. She was rather super
%stitious, but her reading had opened her eyes
to understand many things that only excite
awe among the ignorant. And now she
began to wonler whether the strange
vision she had seen and it's strange story,
much a. they had alarmed and impressed
her. were not merely part of a dream. The
partial applicability of the ghosts story to
the relations between Mary and herself
might have arisen, she thought, from her
fears for the health Of one whom she 90
dearly loved, and from anxiety not t o make
q mistake i'll her treatment OF her. But then,
it was all so real, and there was the open
door, open even when Esther came up in
answer to her call. Surely that part was
not a dream too; but she would ask Esther
again about ii in the morning. On the other
hand, might not this vision, after all, have
been something more than q dream? Might
it not have been sent to warn her against
persisting too long in her present course?
Then she thought over her brothers advice;
he had always been good and kind. perhaps
he was right in asking her to at least give
the young mon q hearing. She must think
it over; and the rest of her waking moments
were given to arguing with herself that she
ought to overcome her reluctance to see him,
and that she ought to behave with fairness
in this as in all matters.
In the morning Esther was again qnes.
toned about the open door. It certainly
was open when she came up, she said, aud
she felt sure that she had left it shut; the
latch was in order, and even il it had not
been, there was no draft in the house strong
enough to have blown the door open.
Then Miss WiltoA askel about DR.. Graydon;
when was he leaving for Clifton; what did
people shy about him; how did they like
him? Esther, who was deeply attached to
Miss Mary, seized the OCCASION, such q rare
one, to praise the young doctor and to tell
all the favourable things til 1t she. had heard
about his skill, his sympathy. his goodness
to the poor. A little later Esther was sent
with a note which read:
miss Wilton presents her compliments to
DR.. Graydon and would be glad if he would
favour her by q call at any time this morning
that may be most convenient to him" Was
it the ghost, or her brother Henry, or both,'
that had brought auut Fanny thus far?
Having come thus far, was it wonderful
that she went much farther and that the
young doctors visit was entirely favourable
to him. Miss Wilton was impressed by his
mauly bearing AID his evident honesty of
purpose; his respectful bearing towards her.
self conoiliated her; aud the warmth of his
expressions of love towards Mary, while
they made her a little jealous. raised him in
her estimation as q man Of good taste and O.
sound heart. In short, the interview ended
in a complete capitulation. 1t was understood
when they parted, thaa both would write to
Mary by that days post. Would it have
been possible, the next evening to have found
in all London a happier girl than the fair lit
tie lady who received these two letters? And
would it bel 'ssible to find sweeter letters
than the two that vent back i'll reply?
Uncle Henry, to-, got hi letter, and felt
himself one of the happiest of men. for who
ME