There
appears to be no motive for fraud; one could, of course, invent theories
to account for the apparition, but I am forced to believe, nevertheless,
that two highly trustworthy men did actually imagine that they saw the
organist's ghost. Whether they actually did so or not is another
matter."

"Very good," replied Dr. F. "Now will you believe me if I tell you still
more wonderful things which I myself have witnessed; and will you give
me credit for being a perfectly reliable witness? I only ask you to
believe; I, myself, cannot explain."

"My dear Doctor," I replied, "I shall receive anything you tell me with
great respect, for you are a most unlikely subject to ever be the victim
of a delusion."

At this the Doctor laughed and said: "Here goes, once and for ever, my
reputation for practical common-sense; henceforth, I suppose, you will
class me with musicians generally, who I know bear a character for
eccentricity. I will tell the tale, however, and you shall see I possess
proofs of its being no delusion, and can contradict your assertion that
ghosts never leave behind them traces of their presence.

"I put the old manuscript aside, intending, at some future time, to have
the Credo sung as a fragment. It would have been presumption on my part
to have completed the Service, so I left it, and being much occupied,
forgot all about it. Just about this time we decided to do away with
manual labour in blowing the organ, and substituted a small hydraulic
engine. I mention this because it has a bearing on what follows.

"To be as brief as possible. Just before Easter I was called away
suddenly on business for a day, and, on returning, was surprised at
receiving a visit from the Dean. He appeared annoyed, and complained
that his rest had been broken the previous night by someone playing the
organ quite into the small hours. He was surprised beyond measure on my
informing him of my absence from home. We tried to discover a solution
to the mystery, but failed. One day, however, I showed the Dean the old
manuscript in my possession, and was surprised to hear that he knew of a
tradition of the appearance, once a year, of the apparition. An old
verger, since dead, had declared several times that he had seen it; but,
being old and childish, no one took any notice of the story.

"Strange to say, the date when the ghost appeared was always the
same--the Wednesday before Easter. That was also the date mentioned in
the manuscri