Clara greeted him with a cry of joy, and seeing her so lively and apparently as well as ever, his face cleared, and the frown of anxiety passed gradually away from it as he heard from his daughter's own lips that she had nothing the matter with her, and moreover was so delighted to see him that she was quite glad about the ghost, as it was the cause of bringing him home again. "And how is the ghost getting on?" he asked, turning to Miss Rottermeyer, with a twinkle of amusement in his eye. "It is no joke, I assure you," replied that lady. "You will not laugh yourself tomorrow morning, Mr. Sesemann; what is going on in the house points to some terrible thing that has taken place in the past and been concealed." "Well, I know nothing about that," said the master of the house, "but I must beg you not to bring suspicion on my worthy ancestors. And now will you kindly call Sebastian into the dining-room, as I wish to speak to him alone." Mr. Sesemann had been quite aware that Sebastian and Miss Rottermeyer were not on the best of terms, and he had his ideas about this scare. "Come here, lad," he said as Sebastian appeared, "and tell me frankly--have you been playing at ghosts to amuse yourself at Miss Rottermeyer's expense?" "No, on my honor, sir; pray, do not think it; I am very uncomfortable about the matter myself," answered Sebastian with unmistakable truthfulness. "Well, if that is so, I will show you and John tomorrow morning how ghosts look in the daylight. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Sebastian, a great strong lad like you, to run away from a ghost! But now go and take a message to my old friend the doctor: give him my kind regards, and ask if he will come to me tonight at nine o'clock without fail; I have come by express from Paris to consult him. I shall want him to spend the night here, so bad a case is it; so will he arrange accordingly. You understand?" "Yes, sir," replied Sebastian, "I will see to the matter as you wish." Punctually at nine o'clock, after the children and Miss Rottermeyer had retired, the doctor arrived. He was a grey-haired man with a fresh face, and two bright, kindly eyes. He looked anxious as he walked in, but, on catching sight of his patient, burst out laughing and clapped him on the shoulder. "Well," he said, "you look pretty bad for a person that I am to sit up with all night." "Patience, friend," answered Mr. Sesemann, "the one you have to sit up for will look a good deal worse when we have once caught him, for there is a ghost in the house!" The doctor laughed again. "That's a nice way of showing sympathy, doctor!" continued Mr. Sesemann. "It's a pity my friend Rottermeyer cannot hear you. She is firmly convinced that some old member of the family is wandering about the house doing penance for some awful crime he committed." "How did she become acquainted with him?" asked the doctor, still very much amused.