herself, and began to weep.

"What's the matter with you?" said Ted angrily.

"Shure, an' there was tirrible murders committed here in the ould
convict days," she whimpered. "The polace sargint's wife at Sint
Leonards tould me all about it. There was three souldiers murdered down
beyant on the beach, by some convicts, whin they was atin' their supper,
an' there's people near about now that saw all the blood and----"

"Stop it, you great lumbering idiot!" shouted Ted, as my eldest sister
began to laugh hysterically, and the youngest, made a terrified dart to
mother's skirts.

Ted's angry voice and threatening visage silenced Julia for the moment,
and she tremblingly went towards the door to obey his orders when the
bell gave out such a vigorous and sustained peal that she sank down in
a colossal heap on the floor, and then went into violent hysterics. (I
assure my readers that I am not exaggerating matters in the slightest.)

My mother, who was a thoroughly sensible woman, pushed the whole brood
of us out of the room, came after us, shut the door and locked it. _She_
knew the proper treatment for hysterics.

"Let her stay there, boys," she said quietly, "she will hurt the
furniture more than herself, the ridiculous creature. Now, Ted, you and
your brothers get the lanterns, and the little ones and myself will go
into the kitchen."

We ran out into the stables, lit three lanterns, and my next eldest
brother and myself, feeling horribly frightened, but impelled to show
some courage by Ted's awful threats of what he would do to us if we
"funked," told us to go round the house, beginning from the left, and
meet him at the hall door, he going round from the right.

With shaking limbs and gasping breath we made our portion of the
circuit, sticking close to each other, and carefully avoiding looking at
anything as we hurried over the lawn, our only anxiety being to meet
Ted as quickly as possible and then get inside again. We arrived on the
verandah, and in front of the hall-door, quite five minutes before Ted
appeared.

"Well, did you see anything?" he asked, as he walked up the steps,
lantern in hand.

"Nothing," we answered, edging up towards the door.

Ted looked at us contemptuously. "You miserable little curs! What are
you so frightened of? You're no better than a pack of women and kids.
It's the wind that has made the bell ring, or, if it's not the wind,
it is something else which I don't know anything abou