“It may be so; but you are so very unbelieving.  May be you don’t believe in corpse candles.”

“Oh yes, when they’re lighted I do.”

“And ain’t they always lighted.”

“What do you mean,” said papa, “are they not the lights you burn during the night, while a dead body lies unburied.”

“Bless your innocent heart!  No.  The corpse candies, are seen burning and moving of themselves, afore people die; coming down the roads from the houses they live in as a warning.”

“A warning for what my dear Mrs. Davis? what earthly purpose can they answer? have we not warning enough in the daily events of our lives to impress us with the instability of life, and yet how rarely does death find us prepared.”

“Well, well; you may be as unbelieving as you like, and talk as you will:  I shall always believe when I see a corpse candle, there’ll be a death but just wait till you pass one night in Castle Hill; may be you’ll tell a different story then!”

“The long and the short of the matter, Mrs. Davis is this, I liked the property, and have bought it; and am determined to reside in it if God, spares my life.  As to the ghost or ghosts, I am well persuaded that, although some natural causes may render the house and premises untenable; supernatural ones I am sure have nothing to do with it.”

Time passed on and the clock struck eight; the hour fixed on, to leave the inn, for Castle Hill:  when papa brought a large trunk and basket, which he had tried to fix on Davy’s shoulders; but strong as he was, he was unable to carry them both, he therefore got a wheel barrow, for the trunk; while papa and I carried the basket between us, and off we started.  A great concourse of people were at the door; many of whom accompanied us to the foot of the hill, and there left us.

We went in and took up our quarters in the room, in which was the bedstead and which was considered to be the most constant rendezvous of the ghost.  Davy lighted a good fire and found a table and three chairs one of which however proved rickety, so Davy had to seat himself on the trunk.  To our surprise we found the bedstead not in the same place in which we saw it in the morning.  This rather, at least so I thought, astonished papa; however he made no comment on the circumstance.

Papa had taken care to bring a good supper; He also brought a large pair of pistols, and we had a blunderbuss, the latter, the property of our friend Davy.  These with a sword he arranged to his own satisfaction under the pillow, and in about an hour, we sat down to a good and substantial supper.  Davy offered to replace what was left in the basket but papa jokingly told him to leave it for the ghost.  We now sat for nearly an hour and a half, and except some occasional out burst of merriment, as Davy told us some droll things, about the ghost, which were current in the village, we were as still as we well could be.