“Nonsense, Chick,” said Joe. “You are frightened and imagined you heard such sounds.” “Come up into the back chamber if you think we lie, Joe. I----” A peal of thunder caused the frightened Chick to stop in the midst of his speech, while he crept nearer the others. The first alarm of the rising storm was quickly followed by another flash of lightning, and a second peal of thunder louder and nearer than the first. Soon after the rain began to fall, while the lightning and the thunder gradually passed over, but not until it seemed as if the old house would be destroyed. When the fury of the storm was beginning to wane, the little party of frightened people slowly gained courage. “It must be leaking into the chambers,” said Joe. “I will get one or two of those old buckets in the cellar and put them under the worst places.” “Oh, don’t dare to move,” admonished Aunt Vinnie. “This is awful.” Not to be deterred from her purpose, Joe lit the stump of a candle, and carefully descended the old stairs leading to the damp, musty cellar. But she had not gone far before she was startled to find a light already in the dismal place. At first she thought the house must be on fire, but a second look showed her that the glare came from a lantern, and in a moment she was alert for what might be discovered. Concealing her own light behind her, instead of crying out or beating a hasty retreat, she descended the stairs more stealthily than before until she could command a full view of the cellar. What she now saw was a sight calculated to have sent a thrill of terror to the heart of a less brave girl. Three men were near the farthest corner, one of them holding the lantern, while another was digging hurriedly into the earth, the third seeming to have no other occupation than to watch the work of his laboring companion. “Hark!” he exclaimed, suddenly. “I thought I heard some one move.” “Bosh!” said the one with the lantern. “I never see you so nervous, Jed, as you are to-night. It was only one of the trees scraping against the roof of the old house.” “I guess you’d be nervous if you were in my place. A man’s mind plays the devil with him sometimes. I ain’t forgot----” “So does his tongue,” interrupted the other. “The--ha! you have reached it, Bill!” Joe could hear the spade strike something which gave back a hollow, metallic sound that sent a shiver through her body, but she bravely stood her ground. The man with the spade resumed his work, throwing up the earth faster than before, until suddenly he stopped. He peered closer into the pit he had dug. “Hold the lantern lower, Bill.” The other quickly obeyed, when the one who had made the request gave expression to a low cry of dismay. The one holding the light now looked sharper down into the ground, when he exclaimed: “Great heavens! it is a human skeleton! What does this mean, Jed?” Then the trembling man called by this name glanced downward, to start back with a wild cry of fear.