at he appeared extremely agitated.
"It is our carriage," said he; "I am very sorry, but we must absolutely
leave you this morning."

We naturally felt and expressed considerable surprise, as well as
regret, at this unexpected departure, representing that we had invited
Colonel and Mrs S., some friends whom Mr A. particularly desired to
meet, to dine with us on that day. Our expostulations, however, were
vain; the breakfast was no sooner over than they departed, leaving us in
consternation to conjecture what could possibly have occasioned so
sudden an alteration in their arrangements. I really felt quite uneasy
lest anything should have given them offence; and we reviewed all the
occurrences of the preceding evening in order to discover, if offence
there was, whence it had arisen. But our pains were vain; and after
talking a great deal about it for some days, other circumstances
banished the matter from our minds.

It was not till we some time afterwards visited the part of the county
in which Mr A. resides that we learnt the real cause of his sudden
departure from Corby. The relation of the fact, as it here follows, is
in his own words:--

"Soon after we went to bed, we fell asleep; it might be between one and
two in the morning when I awoke. I observed that the fire was totally
extinguished; but, although that was the case, and we had no light, I
saw a glimmer in the centre of the room, which suddenly increased to a
bright flame. I looked out, apprehending that something had caught fire,
when, to my amazement, I beheld a beautiful boy, clothed in white, with
bright locks resembling gold, standing by my bedside, in which position
he remained some minutes, fixing his eyes upon me with a mild and
benevolent expression. He then glided gently towards the side of the
chimney, where it is obvious there is no possible egress, and entirely
disappeared. I found myself again in total darkness, and all remained
quiet until the usual hour of rising. I declare this to be a true
account of what I saw at Corby Castle, upon my word as a clergyman."

Mrs Crowe, alluding to this story in her "Night Side of Nature," said
that she was acquainted with some of the family and several of the
friends of the Rev. Henry A., who, she continued, "is still alive,
though now an old man; and I can most positively assert that his own
conviction with regard to the nature of this appearance has remained
ever unshaken. The circumstance made a lasting