re
carefully wiped and dusted. If the house WAS haunted, it was possessed
by a spirit who had none of the usual indifference to decay and mould.
And yet the beds had evidently never been slept in, the very springs
of the chair in which she sat creaked stiffly at the novelty; the
closet-doors opened with the reluctance of fresh paint and varnish; and
in spite of the warmth, cleanliness, and cheerfulness of furniture and
decoration, there was none of the ease of tenancy and occupation. As
Miss Milly afterward confessed, she longed to "tumble things around;"
and, when she reached the parlor or drawing-room again, she could hardly
resist the desire. Particularly was she tempted by a closed piano, that
stood mutely against the wall. She thought she would open it just to see
who was the maker. That done, it would be no harm to try its tone. She
did so, with one little foot on the soft pedal. But Miss Milly was
too good a player, and too enthusiastic a musician, to stop at
half-measures. She tried it again, this time so sincerely, that the
whole house seemed to spring into voice. Then she stopped and listened.
There was no response: the empty rooms seemed to have relapsed into
their old stillness. She stepped out on the veranda. A woodpecker
recommenced his tapping on an adjacent tree: the rattle of a cart in the
rocky gulch below the hill came faintly up. No one was to be seen far or
near. Miss Milly, re-assured, returned. She again ran her fingers over
the keys, stopped, caught at a melody running in her mind, half played
it, and then threw away all caution. Before five minutes had elapsed,
she had entirely forgotten herself, and with her linen duster thrown
aside, her straw hat flung on the piano, her white hands bared, and a
black loop of her braided hair hanging upon her shoulder, was fairly
embarked upon a flowing sea of musical recollection.

She had played, perhaps, half an hour, when having just finished an
elaborate symphony, and resting her hands on the keys, she heard very
distinctly and unmistakably the sound of applause from without. In an
instant the fires of shame and indignation leaped into her cheeks; and
she rose from the instrument, and ran to the window, only in time to
catch sight of a dozen figures in blue and red flannel shirts vanishing
hurriedly through the trees below.

Miss Milly's mind was instantly made up. I think I have already
intimated, that, under the stimulus of excitement, she was not want