er. In the
midst of a most interesting recital, she suddenly paused, fixing her
eyes upon the little gate, with a cry of surprise and terror. Zuleika
followed the direction of her glance and gave a start as she saw,
leaning against the bars of the gate, a sinister-looking man, clad in
dusty, tattered garments, who was peering at her companion and herself
with eyes that glittered like those of some venomous serpent. When he
noticed that he was observed, the man pulled a greasy, weather-stained
cap from his head, disclosing a profusion of matted, whitened locks,
and, stretching a grimy hand, with hooked fingers that resembled the
claws of an enormous bird, through the bars, said, in the hoarse tones
peculiar to the outcasts of the streets:

"Charity, for the love of God!"

The man seemed more like a thief than a beggar. Nevertheless, Mlle. d'
Armilly, who was the first to recover her self-possession, drew a few
sous from her pocket and advanced to place them in his palm. As she came
closer to him, the mendicant acted very strangely. Instead of taking the
money, he suddenly withdrew his hand, staring at Mlle. d' Armilly with
an expression of mingled terror and amazement upon his evil countenance.
Then he quickly turned from the gate, thrust on his cap and started off
at a rapid pace. Mlle. d' Armilly also was singularly affected; she
dropped the sous, became ashy pale and would have fallen to the ground
had not Zuleika sprung to her side and caught her in her arms.

"What is the matter, Louise?" cried the girl, astonished at the beggar's
behavior and still more so at the effect he had produced upon her
companion.

"I have seen a ghost!" replied Mlle. d' Armilly, in a startling whisper.

"A ghost?"

"Yes! Oh! let us quit the garden at once!"

"The ghost of whom?"

"I dare not say! Come, come, I cannot remain here another second! How
fortunate that young Madame de Morcerf was not with us! She would have
been driven mad!"

"Albert's wife? You talk wildly, Louise. What interest could she feel in
that wretched outcast?"

"What interest? Do not ask me. I cannot, I must not tell you! Oh! it is
terrible!"

"Will you tell Albert's wife of what you have seen?"

"No! a thousand times no! She must not even suspect that man's return
from the grave! I entreat you to say nothing to her or any one else!"

"I shall be silent upon the subject; but that beggar was not a ghost; he
was a most substantial reality. Something fri