who boarded with him, went into his room the
night before in a horrible mask, and wrapped in a sheet, and stood
near him in the moonlight, watching him until he woke. He did it for a
joke, of course, and is said to be in agonies of penitence; but I'm
afraid the poor victim will lose his wits entirely, if he doesn't die,
which I think he will. I don't know what they can do with him. He had
one fit after another. He may rally; but he looked to me as if he
wouldn't hold out till morning. A nervous, slight fellow, it was a
cruel thing to do. Somebody told me he belonged somewhere up in New
Hampshire, and that his mother was almost entirely dependent upon
him."

Mr. Whiston listened eagerly. "Poor fellow! I hope he will die," said
he sadly; and then, hesitating a moment: "Do you believe in ghosts,
Ainslie?"

"No," said Jack, with the least flicker of a smile as I caught his
eye; "that is, I've never seen one myself. But there are very strange
things that one can't explain to one's satisfaction."

"I know that the dead come back," said Mr. Whiston, speaking very low,
and not looking at either of us. "John Ainslie," said he suddenly, "I
never shall see you again. I'm not going to live long at any rate, and
you and your sister have given me more of the old-time feeling than I
have had for many a day before. It seems as if I were at home with
you. I suppose you will say I am a monomaniac at the very least; but
I'm going to tell you what it is that has been slowly killing me.
You're a doctor, and you may put any name to it you like, and call it
a disease of the brain; but Henry Dunster follows me."

Jack and I stole a glance at each other, and I felt the strongest
temptation to look over my shoulder. Jack reached over, and filled
Mr. Whiston's glass; and the Transcript startled me by sliding to the
floor.

"I don't often speak of it now: people only laugh at the idea," said
our guest, with a faint smile. "But it is most horribly real to me. It
sometimes seems the only thing that is real." And this is the story he
told:--

"When I was in college, you know, Henry roomed with me; and at one
time we were greatly interested in what we called then superstition
and foolishness. We thought ourselves very wise, and thought we could
explain every thing. There was a craze among some of the students
about spirit-rappings, and that sort of thing; and we went through
with a good deal of nonsense, and wasted a good deal of time, in
tr