The Proprietary remained for some moments silent; at last, turning to the ranger, he inquired-"What dost thou know of this house, Arnold ?"

"Well, Lord Charles," replied the veteran, "I was not born to be much afear'd of goblins or witches. In my rangings I have more than once come in the way of these wicked spirits ; and then I have found that a clean breast and a stout heart, with the help of an Ave Mary and a Paternoster was more than a match for all their howlings. But the fisherman's house -oh, my good Lord Charles," he added with a portentous shrug, "has dwellers in it that it is best not to trouble. When Sergeant Travers and myself were ranging across by St. Jerome's, at that time when Tiquassino's men were thought to be a thieving,-last Hallowmass, if I remember,—we shot a doe towards night, and sat down in the woods, waiting to dress our meat for a supper, which kept us late, before we mounted our horses again. But we had some aqua vitæ, and didn't much care for hours. So it was midnight, with no light but the stars to show us our way. It happened that we rode not far from the Wizard's Chapel, which put us to telling stories to each other about Paul Kelpy and the ghosts that people said haunted his house."

"The aqua vitæ made you talkative as well as valiant, Arnold," interrupted the Proprietary.

"I will not say that," replied the ranger; "but something put it into our heads to go down the bank and ride round the chapel. At first all was as quiet as if it had been our church here of St. Mary's-except that our horses snorted and reared with fright at something we could not see. The wind was blowing, and the waves were beating on the shore,and suddenly we began to grow cold; and then, all at once, there came a rumbling noise inside of the house like the

rolling of a hogshead full of pebbles, and afterwards little flashes of light through the windows, and the sergeant said he heard clanking chains and groans :--it isn't worth while to hide it from your Lordship, but the sergeant ran away like a coward, and I followed him like another, Lord Charles. Since that night I have not been near the Black House. We have an old saying in my country-'een gebrande kat vreest het koude water'—the scalded cat keeps clear of cold waterha, I mind the proverb "

"It is not long ago," said Dauntrees,-" perhaps not above two years, when, they say, the old sun-dried timber of the building turned suddenly black. It was the work of a single night-your Lordship shall find it so now."

"I can witness the truth of it," said Arnold—“ the house was never black until that night, and now it looks as if it was scorched with lightning from roof to ground sill. And yet, lightning could never leave it so black without burning it to the ground."

"There is some trickery in this," said the Proprietary. "It may scarce be accounted for on any pretence of witchcraft, or sorcery, although I know there are malignant influences at work in the province, which find motive enough to do all the harm they can. Has Fendall, or any of his confederates, had commerce with this house, Captain Dauntrees? Can you suspect such intercourse ?"

"Assuredly not, my Lord," replied the Captain, "for Marshall, who is the most insolent of that faction, has, to my personal knowledge, the greatest dread of the chapel of all other men I have seen. Besides, these terrors have flourished in the winter-night tales of the neighborhood, ever since the death of Kelpy, and long before the Fendalls grew so pestilent in the province."

"It is the blood of the fisherman, my good Lord, and of his wife and children, that stains the floor," said Arnold; "it is that blood which brings the evil spirits together about the old hearth. Twice every day the blood-spots upon the floor freshen and grow strong, as the tide comes to flood at the ebb they may be hardly seen."

"You have witnessed this yourself, Arnold?"

"At the ebb, Lord Charles. I did not stay for the change of tide. When I saw the spots it was as much as we could do to make them out. But at the flood every body says they are plain."

"It is a weighty matter, a very weighty matter, an it like your Lordship's honor," muttered forth the slim voice of Garret Weasel, who had insinuated himself, by slow approach, into the rear of the company, near enough to hear a part of this conversation, and who now fancied that his interest in the subject would ensure him an unrebuked access to the Proprietary-"and your Lordship hath a worthy care for the fears of the poor people touching the abominations of the Wizard's Chapel."

"What brought thee here, Garret Weasel?" inquired the Proprietary, as he turned suddenly upon the publican and looked him steadfastly in the face-" What wonder hast thou to tell to excuse thy lurking at our heels ?"

"Much and manifold, our most noble Lord, touching the rumors," replied the confused innkeeper, with a thick utterance. "And it is the most notable thing about it that Robert Swale -Rob o' the Trencher, as he is commonly called-your Lordship apprehends I mean the Cripple-that Rob lives so near the Wizard's Chapel. There's matter of consideration in that-if your Lordship will weigh it."

"Fie, Master Garret Weasel! Fie on thee! Thou art in

thy cups. I grieve to see thee making a beast of thyself. You had a name for sobriety. Look that you lose it not again. Captain Dauntrees, if the publican has been your guest this evening, you are scarce free of blame for this."

"He has a shallow head, my Lord, and it is more easily sounded than I guessed. Arnold," said Dauntrees apart, "persuade the innkeeper home."

The ranger took Garret's arm, and expostulating with him as he led him away, dismissed him at the gate with an admonition to bear himself discreetly in the presence of his wife-a hint which seemed to have a salutary effect, as the landlord was seen shaping his course with an improved carriage towards the town.

"Have you reason to believe, Captain Dauntrees," said the Proprietary, after Weasel had departed, "that the Cripple gives credit to these tales. He lives near this troubled house?"

"Not above a gunshot off, my Lord. He cannot but be witness to these marvels. But he is a man of harsh words, and lives to himself. There is matter in his own life, I should guess, which leaves but little will to censure these doings. To a certainty he has no fear of what may dwell in the Black building. I have seldom spoken with him."

"Your report and Arnold's," said the Proprietary, "confirm the common rumor. I have heard to-day, that two nights past some such phantoms as you speak of have been seen, and deemed it at first a mere gossip's wonder ;-but what you tell gives a graver complexion of truth to these whisperings. Be there demons or jugglers amongst us-and I have reason to suspect both-this matter must be sifted. I would have the inquiry made by men who are not moved by the vulgar love of marvel. This duty shall be yours, friends. Make suitable preparation, Captain, to discharge it at your earliest leisure. I would have you and Arnold, with such discreet friends as you may select,

visit this spot at night and observe the doings there. Look that vou keep your own counsel :-we have enemies of flesh and blood that may be more dreaded than these phantoms. So, God speed you, friends !"

"The man who purges the Black House of the fiend, so please you, my Lord," said Dauntrees, "should possess more odor of sanctity than I doubt will be found under our soldier's jerkins. I shall nevertheless execute your Lordship's orders to the letter."

"Hark you, Captain," said the Proprietary, as his visitors were about to take their leave, "if you have a scruple in this matter and are so inclined, I would have you confer with Father Pierre. Whether this adventure require prayer, or weapon of steel, you shall judge for yourself."

“I shall take it, my Lord, as a point of soldiership," said Dauntrees, "to be dealt with in soldierly fashion-that is, with round blows if occasion serves. I ask no aid from our good priest. He has a trick-if I may be so bold as to speak it before your Lordship-which does not so well sort with my age and bodily health-a trick, my Lord, of putting one to a fasting penance by way of purification. Our purpose of visiting the Black House would be unseasonably delayed by such a purgation."

"As you will!" said the Proprietary, laughing; "Father Pierre would have but an idle sinecure if he had no other calling but to bring you to your penitentiary. Good even, friends— may the kind saints be with you!"

The Captain and his comrade now turned their steps toward the fort, and the Proprietary retired into the mansion. Here he found the secretary and Benedict Leonard waiting his arrival. They had just returned from the town, whither they had gone after doing their errand to the fort. Albert Verheyden bore a