A BOOK OF GHOSTS BY S. BARING-GOULD, M.A. WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY D. MURRAY SMITH SECOND EDITION METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON _Colonial Library_ _First Published October 1904_ _Second Edition December 1904_ [Illustration: "WHO ARE YOU?"] PREFACE Some of the stories in this volume have already appeared in print. "The Red-haired Girl" in _The Windsor Magazine_; "Colonel Halifax's Ghost Story" in _The Illustrated English Magazine_; "Glámr" I told in my _Iceland: Its Scenes and Sagas_, published in 1863, and long ago out of print. "The Bold Venture" appeared in _The Graphic_; "The 9.30 Up-train" as long ago as 1853 in _Once a Week_. CONTENTS JEAN BOUCHON POMPS AND VANITIES MCALISTER THE LEADEN RING THE MOTHER OF PANSIES THE RED-HAIRED GIRL A PROFESSIONAL SECRET H. P. GLÁMR COLONEL HALIFAX'S GHOST STORY THE MEREWIGS THE "BOLD VENTURE" MUSTAPHA LITTLE JOE GANDER A DEAD FINGER BLACK RAM A HAPPY RELEASE THE 9.30 UP-TRAIN ON THE LEADS AUNT JOANNA THE WHITE FLAG LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "Who are you?" "Then the bride put back her veil, and Betty, studying the white face, saw that this actually was not herself; it was her dead sister Letice" "Her hat was blown off, and next instant a detonation rang through her head as though a gun had been fired into her ear" "If he went out for a walk they trotted forth with him, some before, some following" "You let that Mustapha come in, and try and stick his knife into me" "'Mammy!' said he; 'Mammy! my violin cost me three shillings and sixpence, and I can't make it play no-ways'" "I believe that they are talking goody-goody" "She thrust her hand into the teapot and drew forth the coins, one by one, and rolled them along the table" A BOOK OF GHOSTS JEAN BOUCHON I was in Orléans a good many years ago. At the time it was my purpose to write a life of Joan of Arc, and I considered it advisable to visit the scenes of her exploits, so as to be able to give to my narrative some local colour. But I did not find Orléans answer to my expectations. It is a dull town, very modern in appearance, but with that measly and decrepit look which is so general in French towns. There was a Place Jeanne d'Arc, with an equestrian statue of her in the midst, flourishing a banner. There was the house that the Maid had occupied after the taking of the city, but, with the exception of the walls and rafters, it had undergone so much alteration and modernisation as to have lost its interest. A museum of memorials of la Pucelle had been formed, but possessed no genuine relics, only arms and tapestries of a later date.