At length, after some hesitation, the clergyman said, ’I know but of one place where you could at this time find a lodging.  You appear to be a woman of good courage, and if you dare venture, you may occupy a room in that house you see from this window.  It is uninhabited, and has been so for some years, as it has the reputation of being haunted.  Anna looked in the direction indicated, and saw through the deepening twilight a large two-storied house, built of a dull red brick, with stone copings, standing at some distance from the high-road.  The house itself occupied a considerable extent of ground, being beautifully situated, with fronts to the south and west.  The principal entrance was by folding-doors, half of which were glass; and the house was sheltered on the north and east by a grove of trees, whose branches, now but thinly covered with leaves, waved mournfully to and fro in the night wind.  ’The last proprietor of that place,’ continued the clergyman, ’was a vicious and depraved man, whose very existence was a curse to the neighbourhood in which he dwelt.  At an early age he came into possession of a large property, which he spent in the gratification of every base and lawless passion.  His life, as far as I can learn, was one unmixed course of cruelty, lust, and impiety, unredeemed by one noble aspiration, one generous, unselfish action.  He died suddenly, in the prime of life, in the midst of one of his riotous midnight orgies, and the house has ever since been deserted.  It is said, and believed by our good towns-folks, that there he still holds his revels, with fiends for his companions; and many affirm that they have heard the sound of their unearthly merriment, mingled with shrieks and wailings, borne upon the night-breeze; whilst the few who have ventured within its walls, tell of shapes seen, and sounds heard, which would cause the stoutest heart to quail.  For myself, I am no great believer in the supernatural, and have no doubt that imagination, united to the loneliness of the spot, and the strange freaks the wind plays through a large uninhabited house, have originated reports which we are sure would lose nothing in the recital; so if you are inclined to make the trial, I will see that what is necessary is provided, and I think I may venture to promise you an undisturbed night’s rest.’

Anna, as I have before said, was remarkable for her fearlessness; so she thanked the gentleman for his proposal, saying ’that she had not the least fear of spirits, good or bad; that the former, if indeed they were ever visible to mortal eyes, could be but messengers of mercy; and for the latter, she could not conceive that a Being infinite in goodness would ever permit them to revisit this earth for the sole purpose of terrifying and tormenting innocent individuals like herself; that she far more dreaded evil men than evil spirits; and that as, from the estimation in which the place was held, she should feel herself secure from them, she would thankfully accept his