E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 57302-h.htm or 57302-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/57302/57302-h/57302-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/57302/57302-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/spiritsdoreturn00whit Some characters might not display properly in this UTF-8 text file (e.g., empty squares). If so, the reader should consult the html version or the original page images noted above. SPIRITS DO RETURN by IDA BELLE WHITE Inspired by Samuel L. Clemens (“Mark Twain”) The White Publishing Co., 3411 East 27th Street, Kansas City, Missouri. 1915 Copyrighted 1915 by Ida Belle White Kansas City, Mo.: Franklin Hudson Publishing Co. 1915 TO HIM WHO HAS BEEN MY GUIDE AND INSPIRATION; WHOSE EXPERIENCE AND TALENT HAVE ENABLED ME TO BE OF ASSISTANCE TO THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING THE LIGHT, “MARK TWAIN,” I DEDICATE THIS BOOK. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. The Place of Trouble.—The Convict’s Story 9 CHAPTER II. Prison Life.—Mysterious Influences 25 CHAPTER III. The Ghost of a Woman 37 CHAPTER IV. Accused of Murder 50 CHAPTER V. Official Excitement 57 CHAPTER VI. Discharged from the Hospital 62 CHAPTER VII. “My Brother a Convict!” 72 CHAPTER VIII. The Brother Sentenced to Hard Labor 80 CHAPTER IX. The Superintendent Tries to Solve the Mystery 87 CHAPTER X. Pat Allows the Prisoner to Escape 97 CHAPTER XI. The Mystery Deepens 104 CHAPTER XII. Another Dead Man 119 CHAPTER XIII. An Attempt to Bribe the Prisoner 129 CHAPTER XIV. The Convict’s Prayer 143 CHAPTER XV. “Thank God, He Is Innocent!” 152 CHAPTER XVI. A New Prisoner in Cell No. 78 159