eordie," aunt being prosecutor, the
wraith the defendant, and you, uncle, the sceptical public.'

This being arranged, the subject was dropped, and my uncle gave me
further information about the Fitzalans.

'Undoubtedly they were Normans,' said he, 'but descent has been so
frequently in the female line that when my Lord Richard--"Hell-fire
Dick"--died, he had perhaps no more Norman blood in him than you have.
There was this one virtue about him, that he loved the old abode and
possessions of his ancestors passionately, and when he died he left
directions that he should be buried in the mausoleum on the knoll in
the park whence the sea stands out clearly behind the castle.

He had daughters--wild and high-spirited like their father--who divided
up the property between them, and the present owner of the Castle--the
representative of the eldest daughter--cares only for his rents and
royalties, would sell if he could, and comes here about twice a year for
what partridge and pheasant shooting there may be. The coal pits are
extending their shafts and workings northward, his park will soon be
undermined, and the "amenities"--to use the auctioneers' phrase--will
soon no longer exist. I think we may truthfully call the great pile of
building _Castle Ichabod, for its glory has certainly departed_.'

My uncle thus concluded his tale, then knocked out the ashes of his
pipe, and conducted me to my bedroom.

The next morning after breakfast I went in search of 'Geordie,' my chief
witness, concerning whom my uncle had already given me a little
information.

He had when working as a hewer down the pit been disabled by a fall of
stone; then as he had been a 'handy man' and used to both horses and
flowers the Rector had taken him into his service as groom-gardener.
'Crammed with northern self-sufficiency and a sort of scornful
incivility, he has a keen sense of humour and a heart of gold,' said my
uncle, as he forewarned me as to the character of my witness.

Thus fortified, I went in search of 'Geordie,' and found him busy tying
up chrysanthemums.

Pretending a deep interest in them and a profound admiration of his
skill, I soon found I had established friendly relations. Then I offered
him a cigarette, and plunged boldly into my examination.

'Tell me,' I said, 'about your adventure with the dog or its ghost in
the park two nights ago. My aunt has told me something of her own
experience a year ago, and advised me to compare