We might relate a little different manoeuvre in the case of the _ghost_ that appeared in Waltham, Massachusetts, a few years since. A superstitious old man, by the name of McClarren, a mechanic, purchased a lot of turf that had been piled up in a meadow about half way between his workshop and place of residence. Upon returning to his work from supper, he used to take a basket with him, and fill it at the turf heap on his return late in the evening. It was on one of these occasions that the reputed ghost first appeared to him, and caused him some alarm, when he dare not linger to reconnoitre this strange and unexpected visitor. He resolved, however, to muster courage the next evening to accost the figure, should it again appear to him. Accordingly, he went with a large Bible open in his hands; and as the ghost appeared, he followed it till it crossed a ditch, when he was requested by the same to proceed no farther. Thus they stood, facing each other, on either side of the ditch, when the following conversation took place between them:-- _Ques._ By McClarren. "I demand of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, our once crucified God, whether you are mortal or immortal?" _Ans._ "I am not mortal." _Ques._ "What, then, are you?" _Ans._ "I am the spirit of a murdered man." _Ques._ "By whom were you murdered?" _Ans._ "By ----, of Waltham." _Ques._ "Where does your body lie?" _Ans._ "In yonder pond, behind me." It is supposed that this affair was got up in an innocent mood, merely to test the strength of McClarren's faith in ghosts. But it caused a wide-spread excitement; and some, who were thought to be concerned in its projection, were prosecuted and brought before a justice for examination, although nothing was proved. McClarren testified under oath, that he believed it to be a real ghost; "_its tones_," he said, "were so _unearthly_," "and when it moved its motion was not like that in walking, but it glided along like a swan, or a boat in the water." He was neither to be reasoned nor laughed out of it. He would believe it to the day of his death. You might as well tell him he was not a living being, as to tell him he had not seen a living ghost.