! as he neared the spot where the figure stood, it
vanished; and presently he saw it again at the very end of the orchard,
a considerable way off. Thomas went home in a fright; but Jenny, who
came last, and saw nothing, forgave him, and they were married.

"Many years after this, about the year 1790, two ladies paid a visit at
Allanbank--I think the house was then let--and passed the night there.
They had never heard a word about the ghost; but they were disturbed the
whole night with something walking backwards and forwards in their
bed-chamber. This I had from the best authority."

To this account may be added that a housekeeper, called Betty Norrie,
who, in more recent times, lived many years at Allanbank, positively
averred that she, and many other persons, had frequently seen Pearlin
Jean; and, moreover, stated that they were so used to her as to be no
longer alarmed at the noises she made.

XXVII

THE DENTON HALL GHOST

Local Records

A day or two after my arrival at Denton Hall, when all around was yet
new to me, I had accompanied my friends to a ball given in the
neighbourhood, and returned heartily fatigued. At this time I need not
blush, nor you smile, when I say that on that evening I had met, for the
second time, one with whose destinies my own were doomed to become
connected.

I think I was sitting upon an antique carved chair, near to the fire, in
the room where I slept, busied in arranging my hair, and thinking over
some of the events of the day. Whether I had dropped into a
half-slumber, I cannot say; but on looking up--for I had my face bent
toward the fire--there seemed sitting on a similar highbacked chair, on
the other side of the ancient tiled fireplace, an old lady, whose air
and dress were so remarkable that to this hour they seem as fresh in my
memory as they were the day after the vision. She appeared to be dressed
in a flowered satin gown, of a cut then out of date. It was peaked and
long-waisted. The fabric of the satin had that extreme of glossy
stiffness which old fabrics of this kind exhibit. She wore a stomacher.
On her wrinkled fingers appeared some rings of great size and seeming
value; but, what was most remarkable, she wore also a satin hood of a
peculiar shape. It was glossy like the gown, but seemed to be stiffened
either by whalebone or some other material. Her age seemed considerable,
and the face, though not unpleasant, was somewhat hard and severe and
indented wi