"As to the change in the color of the water," answered Albert Fortescue, that was no doubt caused by red powders placed in the bottom of the glass." "That could not have been the case," was the retort; "for I had just taken a drink of water from the goblet an instant before the first manifestation of the strange light." The secretary examined the contents of the pitcher and the goblet, and then emptied them both into the hearth. "We will talk upon the matter further to-morrow, when you will be more composed," he said calmly, in answer to Mr. Burton's last remark. "For the present, let us go to bed, after appealing to Heaven for protection gainst all evil influences." "How can you listen to the relation of such supernatural events so apparently unmoved?" asked Mr. Burton. "If the conscience is clear and void of offence," was the answer, "we need fear neither man nor spirit. But come, let us to bed.” On their way up stairs it was agreed between the two gentlemen that nothing should be said to any other member of the household of the remarkable events which had occurred to its master during the night. So shaken were the nerves of Mr. Burton by the fearful manifestations which he had witnessed that he insisted upon passing the night in the room of the secretary, which was furnished with two beds. He did not obtain much sleep during the remainder of the night. And there were many other wakeful eyes in Faywood; for several others had been roused from fitful and uneasy slumbers by Mr. Burton's loud and startling cries for the secretary; and to all such the inability to account for those cries made sleep no longer possible. CHAPTER VII. AN OFFER-INTENDED TO BRIBE THE GHOSTS. The next morning the family at Faywood met at the breakfast-table at the usual hour. Mr. and Mrs. Burton and the two elder children were very pale and had a worn-out look. The two younger children and the page seemed to have received some benefit from sleep in the past night. The servants who waited on the table looked weary and sleepless. There was a certain expression of gloom on the countenances of all of these; even the page, usually so cheerful and brave, seemed troubled and uneasy. The secretary was calm and self-possessed as usual; but even he exhibited on his face occasionally an expression of abstract thought. When all were seated at the table, and the opening ceremonies requisite to supplying each one with food were complied with, Mrs. Burton was the first to break the general silence. "My dear," she said, addressing her husband, "what was the matter last night that made you call so loudly upon Mr. Fortescue ?" "Why," answered Mr. Burton, slowly and hesitatingly, and casting at the secretary a depre cating glance, a look very unusual with him, “I wished to consult Mr. Fortescue on some very important business." "But you called loudly enough to wake the whole house," remarked the lady. "I called loudly that he might hear me," said the master of Faywood with a forced smile; "but I am sorry if I disturbed anybody's slumbers." "I can't say that you disturbed me exactly in that manner," said the wife, "for I think that I was already awake; it is a difficult thing to sleep in this house of late. But why didn't you pass the night in your own room?" "I had so much to say to Mr. Fortescue," an swered the husband, "that I occupied a bed in his room. We could thus talk and rest at the same time." "I don't want to annoy you, my dear," said Mrs. Burton, seeing that her husband was beginning to show vexation at her questions; **but when you called Mr. Fortescue last night, your voice sounded as if you were very much scared. And it is so unusual for you to be scared that the thought alarmed me so much that I was nervous and shaky all the rest of the night, and I havn't slept a wink since.” "Allow me to say to you, Mrs. Burton," said the husband in tones of rather sharp rebuke, yet with an expression of face which exhibited to the secretary-who of course understood "the position"—a singular mingling of shame and anger, "that you give way too much to your imagination, madam; and, because you are readily scared at nothing, you think that every one else can be as easily alarmed.” "I beg your pardon, my dear," said the wife; "I meant no harm; I only said what I thought." The looks of the page, the two elder children, and the servants, showed, in spite of their efforts to conceal the fact, that they fully agreed with Mrs. Burton. Mr. Burton affected not to notice this expression. "My business with Mr. Fortescue, madam," he resumed, "is not yet concluded. I wish to have a further consultation with him. Mr. Fortescue," he added, turning toward the secretary, "will you be at leisure to accompany me into the library after breakfast?" "Certainly, sir,” was the ready and calm answer. The rest of the morning meal was discussed without a word being said that was not absolutely necessary to the economy of the table. over the path of the promenaders, and the air was pure, soft and elastic, and made sweet by the fragrance of the early flowers which bordered the yard. Toward the south spread wide fields, green with the multitudinous leaves of the young wheat, while here and there clusters of trees diversified the scene. Toward the west, through the trees that bordered the edge of the upland plain where the land rapidly descended toward the river, were caught, a mile or more away, occasional bright glimpses of the broad Patuxent. "What a cheering influence there is in such a scene as this!" remarked Mr. Burton. "I can feel fully alive again, and can say to you with some clearness what I have to say." "I am all attention," said the secretary, with the polite gravity of manner which seemed natural to him. "Tell me candidly, Mr. Fortescue," said the owner of Faywood, "what you think of my visitation last night." "I gave you my opinion last night, you will remember," replied the secretary; "and I see no reason yet, after reflection, to change it." "You do not think, then, that it was a spiritual visitation ?" asked Mr. Burton. "I will not say absolutely that it was not," answered Mr. Fortescue; "but I will say this much, that it may be possible for natural science, for aught we know to the contrary, to have produced all that you saw and heard." "That cannot be possible," returned the exlawyer. "But even supposing it possible, who was there present to have produced such marvelous effects ?" "I grant you," said the secretary, "that the incidents were wonderful; nor will I undertake to say that they were not wrought by supernatural agency. But it appears to me that if there is no fault, as you seem to think, to be found with your conduct towards either Charles Leon or his father, Heaven would not have allowed any ghostly visi Immediately after breakfast Mr. Burton and his secretary retired to the library. The housemaid, whose duty it was to attend to arranging this room, had evidently not yet visited it. The pitcher and drinking-glass still stood upon the table where the secretary had last placed them. The scene brought vividly to Mr. Burton's mind the mysterious and awful visitation of the past night. His face expressed again something of the terror which he had then felt; but he bore himself manfully. "As the room is not cleaned, Mr. Fortescue,"tation in such a case. As you are convinced that he said, "suppose we take a walk out-of-doors. I confess, too, that I feel that I cannot think clearly here at present; but no doubt I shall get over this feeling by-and-by.' The two gentlemen were soon stepping to and fro upon the soft green sward of the front yard. The morning sun shone brightly, the birds sang gayly in the trees which cast their long shadows you have done no wrong in the matter, the strange occurrences therefore cannot be attributed to any but natural agencies. Pardon me if I am taking a liberty in thus referring to your action in whatev.r business there may have been between you and the deceased Mr. Leon; but you have asked my opinion, and it is my duty to speak plainly." "You are taking no liberty at all, Mr. Fortes cue," replied Mr. Burton; " and I thank you for your candor. It is possible that I may have done some unintentional wrong toward this young Leon. In fact, it must be so; for your theory of spiritual visitations is certainly correct, and I am also assured that what I witnessed last night was more than natural. I was thinking on the subject after I went to bed, for I could not sleep, and a plan of action has occurred to me concerning which I wish to have your advice. I think of offering to this young man a present of—say one or even two thousand pounds. I have still left, after purchasing this estate, a considerable sum which is invested in European stocks." "Such an offer," said the secretary, "if it be accepted by the young Leon, may possibly lay' the spirits, if there be any spirits concerned." "Of course he will accept it," replied the exlawyer. "He is living upon a mere clerkship; and I think, moreover, that he has another reason for accepting it: it is reported that he is engaged to the daughter of Mr. Sumter, his employer; and such a sum would enable him to marry sooner. What would you advise me to do? Shall I make him the offer?" "By all means," answered the secretary, who had begun to think that Mr. Burton's conscience was commencing to rebuke him for wrong done. "Will you do me the kindness to make the offer to him for me, Mr. Fortescue?" asked the ex-lawyer. "It is my duty to do so," answered the secretary, "if you require me. Allow me to suggest, however, that if you earnestly desire, as I suppose you do, of course, that the young man may accept your offer, it would be more soothing to his pride, if he has any-and these aristocrats by birth are always likely to be influenced by such a feeling, or to act as if they were, which amounts to the same result in such a case as this—that you should make the offer in person; and he would, therefore, be more likely to accept it." "But would I not be placing myself in an undignified position, and one unbecoming the owner of such an estate as Faywood, by doing so?" asked Mr. Burton. "You see, Mr. Fortescue, that I treat you as a friend, and reserve from you none of my feelings." "I appreciate your confidence," said the secretary. "But, according to my ideas of dignity, there is certainly nothing undignified in offering to do an act of kindness." "I will ride down to Patuxent Town at once and attend to the matter," said the owner of Faywood. In fact Mr. Burton was fearful lest another night should come and find nothing done to prevent the recurrence of the awful visitation of the previous night. The two gentlemen returned to the house, where orders were immediately given that two horses should be saddled and bridled and brought to the front of the mansion; and in half an hour after the conclusion of the conversation in the yard, Mr. Burton was mounted, and, followed by a negro groom also on horseback, was pursuing the road leading to Patuxent Town. CHAPTER VIII.—MR. BURTON VISITS CHARLES LEON. IT required a ride of but ten or fifteen minutes to bring Mr. Burton to the village. His passage through the streets attracted considerable attention, for the wealthy Mr. Burton seldom made his appearance there. When he had business with Mr. Sumter, or any one else in the little town, it was almost invariably settled at Faywood. On arriving in front of Mr. Sumter's warehouse, the owner of Faywood dismounted from his horse, handed the bridle rein to his.groom, and entered the "store." He found both the merchant and his book-keeper in the front sales-room. All When Mr. Burton had last seen Charles Leon the latter was but little more than a boy. business in reference to the estate of the late Mr. Leon had been settled by Mr. Burton with Mr. Evelyn, the brother-in-law of Charles. Indeed, the ex-lawyer had been kept away from Patuxent Town-yet he did not acknowledge this even to himself-mainly by a desire to avoid seeing the person whom, although he denied the fact in his outer consciousness, yet he felt in his inmost heart that he had deeply injured. Nothing indeed but the fear of a return of the dreadful events of the past night enabled him now to face the son of the man who had opened to him a road to fortune. When, therefore, on inquiring of Mr. Sumter for the person whom he had called to see, Charles Leon was pointed out to him, Mr. Burton was quite unprepared for the effect produced upoa himself by the dignified and impressive personal appearance of the young man. It was with some what bated breath that he asked for a private interview with the son of his late patron. Charles Leon led the owner of Faywood into the counting-room, where no third party could overhear their conversation. "This is Mr. Burton, I believe," said the young man, when the two had seated themselves. "Yes," was the laconic reply. Mr. Burton was at first, in truth, in want of words, and was obliged to leave to Charles Leon the opening of the interview. His objectadopted, it must be confessed, in some confusion of thought caused by the dignified and high-toned bearing of the young man, who seemed to be as unlike as possible to an object of charity-was to gain time to arrange his ideas and to frame them into proper language. "Feeling this interest in you, Mr. Leon, as the son of my deceased patron," resumed the owner of Faywood, "it has seemed to me but just that you should partake of the good fortune which your father's kindness bestowed upon me. All my prosperity, as I said before, originated in him. Under these circumstances I hope that I am not presumptuous in considering myself as being to some extent in loco parentis toward you; and I have come here for the purpose of offering to you, in the sacred name of gratitude, the sum of two thousand pounds, and further assistance, should you need it." Mr. Burton desired and attempted to look dignified and benevolent, but really looked humble "To what am I indebted for the honor of this in making this offer, which he had previously visit?" asked the book-keeper. "You are aware," said Mr. Burton, in reply, "that your father was my kind and worthy patron." "I remember," answered Charles, "that my father had great confidence in you, and that the management of all his business was in your hands." "I hope," said the ex-lawyer, "that his confidence was not misplaced." "The very fact, Mr. Burton, that my father trusted you," remarked young Leon, "is evidence to me that you were worthy of his trust. In addition to this testimony in your favor, Mr. Evelyn has assured me that no legal flaw can be discovered in your accounts." "I thank you, Mr. Leon," said the owner of Faywood, to whom the frank and kind manner of Charles Leon had given more confidence, and therefore more self-possession, "for your good opinion. You are not aware, however, at least I think that you are not, that all the good fortune which has crowned my labors in my profession is due to your father, who gave me my first law business. As a matter of course, I cannot avoid feeling much interest in the son of my first and always most important patron." Charles Leon bowed in acknowledgment, but did not speak. Nor was he, in the silence of his heart, very enthusiastic in his thanks; there was something in the manner of the ex-lawyer which prevented him from placing implicit trust in that individual's sincerity. It will be evident to the discriminating reader that the young book-keeper's perceptions of character were clearer than those of his father had been. forced himself to consider a great and praiseworthy self-sacrifice on his part. me. "I am much obliged to you, Mr. Burton," said the young book-keeper, "for your kind intentions. Allow me to express to you fully my views upon the question which you have presented to Whatever property had come to me by descent I should, of course, have taken possession of willingly and thankfully. Nobody's superior claims would, in such a case, have been interfered with. Yet I should have considered it as a sacred trust to be taken care of for my descendants, using its income, in the meanwhile, for my own necessary purposes, and the surplus for good toward those in need. Whatever property I may be so fortunate as to make by my own efforts I shall hold it to be my duty to use in the same manner. But, while I have health, strength, and intellect to make my own way in the world, I differ with you in the opinion that I am an object of charity." "My dear sir," exclaimed Mr. Burton, earnestly, thinking of the ghostly visitation and fearing its return, "do not, I beseech of you, so dreadfully misunderstand me. So far from treating you as an object of charity, I am not even offering you a gift; I am only asking permission to pay you a debt." "I see that my father's confidence was not misplaced," said Charles, kindly and warmly, being affected by the evident sincerity of Mr. Burton. "As I said before, I thank you much indeed for your generous intentions toward me. But the subject presents itself to each of us in a different light. You are acting under the im pulses of a feeling of gratitude; but I cannot look at your service, if you will honor me by accepting upon your offer as anything but a gift presented at the dictation of this noble feeling. Therefore I cannot and will not, Mr. Burton, take advantage of your liberality. Justice to yourself, and to your family as well, allow me to add, as a regard to my own manhood, will not permit me to make any other decision in the matter: You have made your fortune by your own integrity, ability and industry. My father would not have employed you had he not known you to be worthy of his confidence; and thus to yourself alone is due even the opening which you made, through his need of your services, to the road to fortune." "But, my dear Mr. Leon, my dear Charles, if you will allow me to address you so familiarly," said Mr. Burton, eagerly, gratified by the confidence and good feeling which the young man was showing toward him, but doubtful whether the logical ghost or ghosts that haunted Faywood would be so liberal in their sentiments toward him, and beginning to be awfully alarmed at the thought of the coming night, "permit me to suggest that you do not seem to me to realize my position in this matter. I feel that I owe a debt; and I, of course, wish to pay this debt. You are your father's natural representative. If you will not accept payment, what am I to do? How shall I get rid of this weight of obligation which presses upon me?” that sum." Mr. Burton was very much afraid of the ghosts, but had no idea yet of giving up Leon Manor to satisfy even them; yet he was very anxious indeed to propitiate them by a compromise. "I see, Mr. Burton," said Charles Leon, in very decided tones, "that you totally misunderstand me. I look at the principle involved in the question; and were you to offer me a million of pounds, such an offer would make no difference in my decision. Let us return to Mr. Sumter; for this interview can lead, it appears to me, to no useful result." "Listen to me, Mr. Leon, I beseech you," urged the owner of Faywood. "Pardon me, Mr. Burton," replied Charles, "for reminding you that I am in the employment of Mr. Sumter, and that my time therefore is not my own." Being convinced that further entreaty would be unavailing, Mr. Burton very reluctantly yielded the point, and left the counting-room and the village sad and dispirited, and anticipating with awful sensations the probable terrors of the coming night. As soon as the owner of Faywood left the "store," Charles Leon communicated to Mr. Sumter the substance of the interview just closed. "I wonder," remarked the merchant, "if this As he asked this question Mr. Burton placed unexpected interview has anything to do with the his hand upon his heart. "I might tell you," replied Charles Leon, "to try Mrs. Evelyn; but I know that her answer will be the same as my own. I cannot, therefore, promise you any relief in that direction. Let me suggest to you, however, if what I have said to you has not satisfied you that you are fully and justly entitled to all which you have earned, that you bestow what you have offered to me on some public charity. The people of Patuxent Town have lost much by the cattle disease; and the poorer among them are in some distress on that account. Among these I can show you at once many objects of charity." "There is a maxim, Mr. Leon, which says, 'Be just before you are generous,' replied Burton. "I wish to pay my debts first; if I can afford to be so, I will be generous afterwards. Perhaps you despise my offer, because you think it too small. I have even five thousand pounds story which we have heard about ghosts at Faywood? Certain it is, Charles, that the offer which Mr. Burton made to you is totally at odds with his general character." "I will do him the justice to say," answered the young man, "that I feel sure that he was governed in making it by kind and good motives only." Mr. Sumter made no further remark. He admired and did not wish to lessen the beautiful simplicity and truthfulness of the young man's character; but his construction of the motives of the ex-lawyer was much more severe than was tha! of Charles Leon. CHAPTER IX. FRIGHT THE THIRD.-A TRUCE MADI WITH THE GHOSTS. WHEN Mr. Burton returned to Faywood, he at once sought the company of the secretary. There was a calmness and self-possession in the bearing |