I conclude there is something comical in my dismay, as Marmaduke and Lord Chandos burst out laughing, Thornton fairly roars, while Sir James gets as near an outburst of merriment as he ever did in his life. "Is there a ghost in your family?" I demand, rather sharply, feeling nettled at their heartless mirth. "No; I am afraid we have nothing belonging to us half so respectable. All the ancestors I ever heard of died most amiably, either on the battle-field, or on the gallows, or in their beds. We cannot lay claim to a single murderer or suicide; there is not even a solitary instance of a duel being fought within these walls. I doubt we are a tame race. There is not a spark of romance about us. Bebe's imagination has run riot." "I tell you I saw it," persists Bebe, indignantly. "Am I to disbelieve my own sight? I was walking along the corridor off the picture-gallery quite quietly, thinking of anything in the world but supernatural subjects, when all at once, as I got near the window, I saw a face looking in at me from the balcony outside." "Oh, Bebe!" I cry, faintly, casting a nervous glance behind me, as I edge closer to Lord Chandos, who happens to be the one nearest me. "It was a horrible face, wicked, but handsome. The head was covered with something dark, and it was only the eyes I noticed, they were _unearthly_--so large, and black, and revengeful; they had _murder_ in them." Bebe stops, shuddering. "Really, Carrington, it is too bad of you," says Chips, reprovingly. "If you keep them at all they should at least be amiable. I wonder Miss Beatoun lives to tell the tale. Pray go on: it is positively enthralling. Did the eyes spit fire?" "The head vanished while I stared, and then I dropped my candle and ran downstairs, as though I were hunted, Oh, I shall never forgot it!" "Probably some poor tramp prowling about," says 'Duke seeing I am nearly in tears. "It was nothing living," declares Miss Beatoun with a settled conviction that sends a cold chill through my veins. "Bebe, how can you be so stupid?" exclaims 'Duke, almost provoked. "Ghosts, indeed!--I thought you had more sense. Come let us go in a body and exorcise this thing, whatever it is. I believe an apparition should be spoken of respectfully in capitals as _IT_. She may still be on the balcony." "I think it improbable," says Chips: "she would see by the aid of--of Miss Beatoun's candle that it is an unlikely spot for silver spoons." "Well, if we fail, I shall give orders for a couple of men to search the shrubberies. And whatever they find they shall bring straight to Bebe." "They will find nothing," says Bebe, with an obstinacy quite foreign to her. I take Marmaduke's arm and cling to him. He looks down at me amused. "Why, you are trembling you little goose. Perhaps you had better stay here." "What! all alone!" I cry, aghast. "Never I would be dead by the time you came back. No, I would rather see it out."