"Well, I'll stay up with you." "This ghost affair is nonsense, Tom.

I hope you will not find any valuables gone to-morrow." "Real or not," said Tom, gaily, "I'm glad it came." "How's that ?" "It gave me nerve to pop the question," he replied.

"I told my little girl just now--for she is mine now--that she wanted a strong man to protect such a weak little darling." "And she ?" "She said that she knew of no one, whom she liked, that cared enough for her to protect her.

So I told her I did, and then--well, what followed was perfectly satisfactory." I congratulated him on his audacity, and then we spent the night in wandering about the first floor of the house, trying to find the ghost, but in vain; and when the morning came, and we all tried to laugh at the ghost, I felt that there was a deep, sinister meaning in it all, and wondered what the end would be..