n its side. The girls could not
believe their own eyes; so Jane placed the box in its old position in
the middle of the room, and both watched it intently, when to their
amazement the same thing occurred again. The girls were now really
frightened, and screamed as loudly as they could for Dan, who put on
some clothing and came into their room to ascertain what was the matter.
They told him what had just taken place, but he only laughed, and after
pushing the box under the bed, and remarking that they must be insane or
perhaps had been dreaming, he went back to bed grumbling because his
rest had been disturbed.

The next morning the girls both declared that the box had really moved;
but, as nobody believed them, they saw it was of no use to talk of the
matter. Jane went to the shop, Dan to his shoe factory, and William Cox
and John Teed about their business as usual, leaving Olive and Esther to
attend to their household duties. After dinner Olive took her sewing
into the parlor, and Esther went out to walk. The afternoon was
delightful, and there was quite a breeze blowing from the bay. Walking
is very pleasant when there is no dust; but Amherst is such a dusty
little village, especially when the wind blows from the bay, that it is
impossible to walk on any of the streets with comfort on a windy day
during the summer. Esther found this to be the case, so she retraced her
steps homeward, stopping at the post office and at Bird's book store,
where she bought a bottle of ink from Miss Blanche. On arriving at the
cottage she hung up her hat and joined Olive in the parlor, took little
George on her lap, and, after singing him to sleep, lay down on the sofa
and took a nap.

After supper Esther took her accustomed seat on the door-step, remaining
there until the moon had risen. It was a beautiful moonlight night,
almost as bright as day. While seated there gazing at the moon, she said
to herself, "Well there is one thing certain anyhow, I am going to have
good luck all this month, for on Sunday night I saw the new moon over my
shoulder."

At half-past eight o'clock, Esther complained of feeling feverish and
was advised by Olive and Jane to go to bed, which she did.

About ten o'clock Jane retired for the night. After she had been in bed
some fifteen minutes, Esther jumped with a sudden bound into the centre
of the room, taking all the bed clothes with her.

"My God!" she exclaimed, "what can be the matter with me! Wake up