ny one the events of this night until six
months have passed; by that time we shall have quitted not only this
neighbourhood, but the country, and,' he added with a laugh, 'the
ghost that has kept all the men in ---- quaking after dark, like a
pack of frightened children, will be laid for ever. Have I said well,
my comrades?' There was a general murmur of assent, and the man
continued: 'Recollect, then, that if you break your oath, your life
will be the forfeit: we have means to ascertain and punish treachery;
and should you attempt foul-play, you can no more escape our
vengeance than here in this lonely place you can resist our power.
Will you swear, by all you hold most dear and sacred, to keep our
secret inviolable for the time agreed?' To this proposition Anna, as
will be readily believed, joyfully assented, and being conducted by
her strange acquaintances back to her sleeping apartment, she most
gladly, when morning dawned, bade adieu to the scene of her singular
and alarming adventure. On arriving at the clergyman's house, she was
not sorry to find but few of the family stirring, as she naturally
wished to avoid much questioning. In answer to the inquiries which
were made as to how she had passed the night, she said that she had
been much annoyed and disturbed; and though she avoided entering into
particulars, she strongly advised that no one should be permitted to
try a similar experiment, assuring them that she believed few could
pass through what she had done without sustaining severe, if not
permanent injury from it. Having thus, as far as lay in her power,
acquitted her conscience, she pursued her journey. In a few days she
arrived at home; but it was not until several months over the time
specified had elapsed, that she related the adventure to me, in order
to show how little dependence is to be placed on the stories told of
ghosts and haunted houses. As Dutch Anna said: 'Evil men have
generally more to do with such stories than evil spirits, and, after
all, it is possible to give a certain gentleman and his agents more
than their due.'

THE LOCKSMITH OF PHILADELPHIA.

Some years ago, in the city of Philadelphia, there lived an ingenious
locksmith, named Amos Sparks. Skilled as a maker and repairer of
locks, he was particularly celebrated for his dexterity in opening
them, when it was necessary to do so in cases of emergency. Like many
men of talent in other departments, Amos Sparks was poor. Though a