Again he released me, and wiped his brow; and growing calmer said, "So then, if you heard crying here you'd know it was a ghost?" "Yes," I answered; "everybody'd know that." "Ah!" I thought he seemed relieved. But he put another question to me, watching me intently for the answer; "And if you heard--heard me crying in the night, would you think it a ghost?" "Know it," I said positively, "that's what they do, to lead you on. I've heard them, crying like something in pain; and once I followed; but----" I paused, wondering whether I had said too much; but he urged me on. "Yes, yes," he said eagerly. "Ah, I don't remember," I said. "I was lost, and there was something terrible, and in the morning it was all gone." There was a pause, and then I said deliberately, as though imparting some piece of profound advice, "If you hear them crying to you, don't go; don't go." I nodded my head sagely, and once again I heard his merry burst of laughter, and his face cleared. "Oh," he cried, "we shall be famous friends, Tommy; famous friends." He patted me affectionately on the head. But I was busy thinking out the situation into which my confidences had led me. Why didn't he ask me how I knew all this? He would guess I had lived here; and that might be dangerous. So I said, "I come here often. I run away from school, you see, because I don't like it. And then I hear things: and sometimes at night I see a shadow, and feel things breathing on me; very soft, you know, as though a butterfly passed. I don't know whether I like it or whether I'm afraid. It's--it's funny," I finished feebly. He was gazing at me with increased amusement. "So," he said, "you run away from school, do you? Well, how'd you like to come and live here, eh?" "Yes," I said, "thank you," as though the matter were settled. That seemed to amuse him more than anything I had yet said, and he chuckled more delightedly than ever. "Very well," he said, "we'll see about it. Rancey Bridge, you say? Well, I'll be round in a few days, and we'll see about it." "Not to-night?" I asked. "To-night, eh?" he laughed. "You want to come to-night, eh?" My thought was that I ought to have been back at school long before now, and there was a certain punishment in store for me. If I could accept the invitation straight away I might avoid unpleasant consequences. My answer was too subtle even for me to follow its drift. "You see, I like you," I said. And then I heard a halloo, and a high voice crying, "Daddy, daddy!" The familiar word sent a gush of memory to my heart, and my eyes moistened. But the pain passed as quickly as it came, for a little girl came racing round the corner and drew up wide-eyed and motionless a foot in front of me. "Why, Jenny!" exclaimed her father. But she took no notice of him, her gaze fixed on me. CHAPTER XV JENNY