"No, mamma, he did not even disappear. He was just _no longer there_. I was staring at nothing! Then came a sort of wild fear. I turned and rushed downstairs, even without my boot, and all the way the horrible feeling was that even though he was no longer there he might still be coming after me. I should not have cared if there had been twenty tipsy peasants downstairs! But I found Lieschen. Of course I said nothing to her; I only asked her to come up with a light to help me to find my boot, and as soon as I had put it on I came outside, and ran up and down--it was a long time, I think--till you and Reggie came at last. Mamma, _can_ you explain it?" How I longed to be able to do so! But I would not deceive the child. Besides, it would have been useless. "No, dear. As yet I cannot. But I will try to understand it. There are several ways it may be explained. Have you ever heard of optical delusions, Nora?" "I am not sure. You must tell me;" and she looked at me so appealingly, and with such readiness to believe whatever I told her, that I felt I would give anything to restore her to her former happy fearlessness. But just then Reggie came in from the stable. "We must go upstairs," I said; "and Lieschen," turning to her, "bring up our supper at once. We are leaving very early to-morrow morning, and we will go early to bed." "Oh, mamma," whispered Nora, "if only we had not to stay all night in that room!" But there was no help for it, and she was thankful to hear of the success of our expedition to the post-office. During supper we, of course, on Reggie's account, said nothing of Nora's fright, but as soon as it was over, Reggie declaring himself very sleepy, we got him undressed and put to bed on the settee originally intended for Nora. He was asleep in five minutes, and then Nora and I did our utmost to arrive at the explanation we so longed for. We thoroughly examined the room; there was no other entrance, no cupboard of any kind even. I tried to imagine that some of our travelling cloaks or shawls hanging on the back of a chair might, in the uncertain light, have taken imaginary proportions; that the stove itself might have cast a shadow we had not before observed; I suggested everything, but in vain. Nothing shook Nora's conviction that she had seen something _not_ to be explained. "For the light was _not_ uncertain just then," she maintained; "the mist had gone and it had not begun to get dark. And then I saw him _so_ plainly! If it had been a fancy ghost it wouldn't have looked like that--it would have had a long white thing floating over it, and a face like a skeleton perhaps. But to see somebody just like a regular gentleman--I could never have _fancied_ that!"