St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1910-11-19
would have been over. But even at the

would have been over. But even at the
moment of his triumph he stopped
dead and staggered backward. For the
door had opened, and there, confront
ing us, fully attired, lantern in her
hand, her eyes wide with suspense and
terror, was the lady Of the miniature
And the three waited moticuless ~
figures carved out Of stone, till Bro6.
sky stepped up and broke the silence.
unresisting hand.
Let us go in and talk over the mat
ter" he said.
If tears are akin to laughter, trag-
edy is surely akin to comedy. For
hours, as it seems to me now, the four
of them sat in the little cottage parlor,
laughing incoherently, listening at
first incredulously to the account that
Brodsky unfolded. For the merest
chance words let drop by John Sykes
during their first interview had set
him upon the track of his daring
hypothesis, which he had courageous
ly verified, even at the risk of murder.
Afterward they began to believe. am
not sure that Philip Sykes believes it
yet; as for John, his joy at the res
toration of his confidence in the lady
resentment. For, whatever other ex-
PLANTATION there might have been, he
knew that his wife could not possibly
have been inside his brothers house
in person, when she had met him at
his own door,
Il was not sure until the end that
my hypothesis was correct" said Brod-
sky. But it was your statement of
the sentimental regard which Mrs.
Sykes felt for the old mansion, and
her deep disappointment at the loss
of it, that put me upon the track. Do
you recollect the tenth commandment,
which begins: Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor's house,? Many people
have wondered at the inclusion of so
comparatively-as it seems-venial a
sin among those of theft~and murder
"Yet, like most things, that com
mandment exists with very good rea'
son, for undoubtedly the Great Law
giver was acquainted with the physi
cal results of spiritual things. There
was a ghost in the mansion He
turned to Mrs. Sykes. Have you not
dreamed of it continually?" he asked
"Often and often she answered.
"You were the ghost" said Brodsky
1T was you, who by the strength Of
your longing, were nightly transplant
ed there. You were there in spirit
but not in body, when we watched II
the gallery. And had that pistol bull
let pierced through your ghostly form
it would have killed you none the les:
surely, so intimately associated are
the body and that psychical envelope
which men miscall the soul, which /:
the body of desires and emotions. Ant
unless you can overcome this longing
confess l fear that you will continue
to haunt the mansion"
II shall haunt it no more" replied
Mrs. Sykes, laughing "My brotherin
law was willing long ago to dispose
of it to my husband"
Indeed, l have been most anxious
to do So" said Philip, "but my broth
er, who has inherited the Sykes TEN
per, refused all overtures for reconcile
alton until your happy Intervention
this evening. But now | shall insis
upon his taking the place Off my hand
upon any terms he will accept, for
confess I am a practical sort of NAL
and don't want to be troubled b.
ghosts, even when they are the pei
sonal property of very charming an,
neMIy.diScoYered sister-in.laW."