The messenger returned. Nobody had been
seen. On further inquiry, the policeman and
road-sweeper in the crescent both denied that
any private carriage had passed through, that
morning.

A note was made of the exact time the three
sisters had seen Mr. H.; and the news which,
shortly after, reached them of his death proved
that he had expired at the same time—his
latest words expressing an intense desire to see
once more the face of the wife he loved so well,

V. THE BROTHERS.

Not far from Geneva there stands a fine old
château, long in the occupation of a strange,
morose, misanthropic man, who mixed in no
society, though, at the same time, he appeared
to derive little pleasure from the exquisite
gardens and other amenities with which, with
a most lavish hand, his beautifully situated
mansion had been surrounded. It was at length
offered for sale, and, much to the surprise of
those who knew its value, passed—at a very
moderate price—into the hands of a jeweller,
well known to many an English tourist,
resident in Geneva.

Delighted at his bargain, Monsieur G. lost
no time in making every arrangement for
adapting the château to the taste of some
"milord Anglais," who was certain to covet so
lovely a spot for his summer residence.

He was right in his anticipation. A gentleman,
with his wife and two daughters, soon
established themselves at Belle D., taking
the place not for the summer only, but by the
year.

A few weeks elapsed, and they had begun to feel
themselves at home in their pleasant dwelling,
when, one evening, Mr. M., while reading aloud
to his family, encountered a difficult phrase,
which it was necessary to elucidate by means of
the dictionary, and the younger sister, Emily,
hastened to the library to procure that work.

She was gone rather longer than was expected,
and, when she did return, looked so pale and
agitated, that her mother anxiously inquired the
cause.

"Well," was the reply, "I have had a sort of
adventure; but my ghost (for I have certainly
seen one) was by no means terrible, and I don't
know why I should feel so flurried. It was a
very handsome young man!"

Pressed for details, the young lady related
that she had seen nothing in her way to the
library, but that on her return, just as she was
descending the first step of the stair, she heard
a noise behind her, and, looking round,
observed a young and handsome man in a naval
uniform. He looked sadly at her for some
seconds, during which she never removed her
eyes from his face, pointed with his finger to the
side of the corridor, and vanished, as it were,
into the wall!

This story was received, as the majority of
such are destined to be, with some incredulity.
Nevertheless, so much impressed was Mr. M.
with what he had heard, that, when their
daughters had retired, he and his wife
re-discussed the matter, and came to the
resolution that Mr. M. should visit the "haunted"
corridor about the same hour, and see if any
similar appearance would be vouchsafed to
him.

Accordingly, on the following evening, he
mounted guard, and walked to and fro for a
considerable time without result. Tired at last
of his vigil, he was wheeling round to commence
what he had resolved should be his last turn,
when he almost ran into the arms of a young
naval officer, precisely answering the description
given by his daughter. The figure pointed
to the wall, and, before Mr. M. had fully
regained his self-possession, disappeared.

Mr. M.'s countenance, on entering the drawing-
room, sufficiently denoted that his search
had been successful, but he declined to say what
he had actually seen, and requested his family,
for the present, to control their curiosity.

Early next morning he proceeded to Geneva,
and called upon his landlord.

"I have come, sir," he said, "to ask your
permission to remove a portion of the wall in
the corridor of the château." And, finding the
proprietor hesitate, he at once related the
double apparition, adding that, unless his
proposal were complied with, he must decline to
continue a tenant of the mansion.

The landlord shrugged his shoulders, extended
his palms, and, deciding within himself that this
was but a new example of that English
eccentricity which it is equally impossible to comprehend
and resist, gave the permission required.

Some masons being sent for, the work at
once began. As it proceeded, Mr. M. was
much struck by the singular manner of the
master-mason, who, having first discouraged the
idea of disturbing the wall at all, threw every
imaginable obstacle in the way, and
subsequently, when his men had actually set to work,
watched their proceedings with a fixed stare,
and a face gradually becoming deadly pale.

An hour, however, elapsed before any
discoveries were made. But at the end of that
time there was turned forth to the light the
upright skeleton of a man, which, as the wall
was removed, fell toppling forward among the
workers. At this sight the master-mason reeled,
and sunk upon the floor in a swoon.

Restoratives were administered, and the man
was conveyed to Mr. M.'s study, where the
latter, as soon as he was sufficiently recovered,
questioned him as to the agitation he had
displayed, hinting that, in the event of his not
relating all he had previously known concerning
the bricking-up the body, the gravest suspicions
might attach to his own share in the business.

Under the influence of such arguments, the
man related, in a confused and agitated manner,
the circumstances here given in a more
connected form.

A former possessor of the château—Monsieur
Frémont—resided there with his wife. They
had no children.

One day Monsieur F. received a communication
from the curé of a neighbouring parish to
the effect that his (Monsieur F.'s) brother had