en by the splash and ripple of a school of nomadic alewives
or the gliding, sinuous fin of a piratical shark. In this lovely home it
was wont for the family to assemble on the occasion of certain domestic
celebrations, and it was at one of these that the following incident
occurred: All were present except one member, who was detained by
sickness at her residence, fifteen miles away. It was in early afternoon
that one of the ladies standing at an open window, suddenly exclaimed:
"Why, there's Aunt Milly crossing the flower garden!" The party
approached the window, and beheld, in great surprise, the lady, in her
ordinary costume, slowly strolling among the flowers. She paused and
looked earnestly at the group, her features plainly visible; then turned
and disappeared amidst the shrubbery. No trace of her presence being
discoverable, it was natural that a gloom fell upon the company. A few
hours later a messenger arrived with the intelligence of her death. The
time of her apparition and the time of her death coincided.

AN IDIOT GHOST WITH BRASS BUTTONS

(Philadelphia _Press_, June 16, 1889)

In a pretty but old-fashioned house in Stuyvesant square--ghosts like
squares, I think--is another ghost. This house stood empty for several
years, and about six years ago a gentleman, his wife and little daughter
moved in there, and while fitting up allowed the child to play about
the empty attic, which had apparently been arranged for a children's
playroom long ago. There was a fireplace and a large fireboard in front
of it.

When the house was about finished down stairs the mother began to pay
more attention to the little girl and tried to keep her down there with
her, but the child always stole away and went back up stairs again and
again, until finally the mother asked why she liked to go up there so
much. She replied that she liked to play with the funny little boy.
Investigation showed that it was utterly impossible for any person, man
or child, to get in that place or be concealed there, but the little
girl insisted and told her parents that he "went in there," pointing to
the fireboard.

The parents were seriously concerned, believing that their daughter was
telling them an untruth, and threatened to punish her for it, but she
insisted so strongly that she saw and played with a "funny little boy,
with lots of brass buttons on his jacket," that they finally gave up
threatening and resolved to investigate.

The father