ters' Brae; how
Blanche and she had determined to try to find out their cause and see
for themselves if there were indeed a ghost in the old wing; how they
had laid their plans beforehand, and how at last they had come upon the
lighted crack in the wall.

"Well," said the doctor, rubbing his hands, "you've found the ghost, and
he is a pretty substantial one, eh? Marjory, you deserve a whipping for
being so thoughtless as to bring a delicate little thing like Blanche
out of her bed at this time of night."

Marjory cowered in her chair. Would her uncle really resort to such
stern measures? Surely girls were never whipped!

But Blanche stood up and faced the doctor with flushed face and shining
eyes.

"You will be very unjust if you whip Marjory," she said. "It was all my
fault from the beginning. I told her what Crossley said about lights
being seen, and I suggested that we should try to see the ghost; and
then mother went away and I came here, and it all fitted in so nicely,
and--" Here Blanche broke down again. "Please, _please_ don't whip her;
I never thought you would be so cruel." And she put her arms round
Marjory as if to protect her from her uncle's vengeance.

The doctor could keep a straight face no longer.

"You foolish children," he said, laughing, "do you suppose for one
moment that I should be likely to whip either of you? Come here."

They went obediently and stood in front of him, and then, wonder of
wonders, he put an arm round each, and drew them down till he had one on
each knee.

"Now listen. I think it would have been wiser and better if you had told
me about the village tales. I could have explained them to you--at least
partly," he added with a smile. "I shouldn't have told you _all_ the
secrets that you have found out for yourselves. Instead of telling me,
however, you lie awake for hours, then you creep about, shivering and
shaking, half frightened out of your wits, perhaps catching colds and
coughs and all the rest of it, and you find that this wonderful ghost is
nothing but a foolish old man who thinks that he can do what better men
than he have failed in doing"--this with a sigh. "I will tell you why I
have kept that room and its contents a secret from the rest of the
household. One reason was that I didn't wish to frighten any one with my
skulls and skeletons, my bones and bottles. Another reason was that I
wished to be absolutely alone and uninterrupted when making my
experiments; a