o bed!
But our work we still must do,
Shadow men, as well as you.

'Rooting, rising, shooting,
Heaving, sinking, creeping;
Hid in corners crooning;
Splitting, poking, leaping,
Gathering, towering, swooning.
When we're lurking,
Yet we're working,
For our labour we must do,
Shadow men, as well as you.
Flicker, flacker, fling, fluff!
Swing, swang, swingle, swuff!'

"'How thick the Shadows are!' said one of the children--a thoughtful
little girl.

"'I wonder where they come from,' said a dreamy little boy.

"'I think they grow out of the wall,' answered the little girl; 'for I
have been watching them come; first one and then another, and then a
whole lot of them. I am sure they grow out of the walls.'

"'Perhaps they have papas and mammas,' said an older boy, with a smile.

"'Yes, yes; and the doctor brings them in his pocket,' said another, a
consequential little maiden.

"'No; I'll tell you,' said the older boy: 'they're ghosts.'

"'But ghosts are white.'

"'Oh! but these have got black coming down the chimney.'

"'No,' said a curious-looking, white-faced boy of fourteen, who had
been reading by the firelight, and had stopped to hear the little ones
talk; 'they're body ghosts; they're not soul ghosts.'

"'A silence followed, broken by the first, the dreamy-eyed boy, who
said,--

"'I hope they didn't make me;' at which they all burst out laughing.
Just then the nurse brought in their tea, and when she proceeded to
light the gas, we vanished."

"I stopped a murder," cried another.

"How? How? How?"

"I will tell you. I had been lurking about a sick-room for some time,
where a miser lay, apparently dying. I did not like the place at all,
but I felt as if I should be wanted there. There were plenty of
lurking-places about, for the room was full of all sorts of old
furniture, especially cabinets, chests, and presses. I believe he had
in that room every bit of the property he had spent a long life in
gathering. I found that he had gold and gold in those places; for one
night, when his nurse was away, he crept out of bed, mumbling and
shaking, and managed to open one of his chests, though he nearly fell
down with the effort. I was peeping over his shoulder, and such a gleam
of gold fell upon me, that it nearly killed me. But hearing his nurse
coming, he slammed the lid down, and I recovered.

"I tried very hard, but I could not do him any good. For although I
made