As they talked in this way they were walk? ing up the hill towards the old French orchard? As they neared the place Bart’s eyes wandered over the adjoining pasture field, and rested on the form of that donkey which had borne so large a share in the experiences of the past few days. “I have it!” he cried, suddenly. “What?” asked they. “The donkey!” “What about it?” “He shall help us.” “How?” “The donkey’s our plan. We’ll play him off against the ghost, and Pat! The donkey was once a ghost himself. He’ll be the very one to do the thing up properly; he’s had experience. After performing so successfully at the hole, at our expense, you can’t place any limit to his capacity. Yes, boys, the donkey’s the very man.” “I don’t see what good the donkey’s going to be,” said Phil. “What good?--the very thing we want.” “How?” asked Bruce. “Pat won’t come up here to get frightened,” said Arthur. “And his room is too far up for us to make the donkey bray under it,” said Tom. “.All very true,” said Bart; “but then what’s to prevent our marching the donkey up into the garret?” “What?” “Marching him up into the garret.” The boys looked puzzled. “Can you get him up?” “Of course we can.” “But think of the horrible racket he’d make going up. We couldn’t keep it secret.” “O, yes, we could. We could fix him so that he could go up without any noise in particular.” “How?” “Why, by putting bits of carpet around each of his feet. We could then get him up stairs somehow. A basket of oats, for instance.” The boys thought for a time, and then burst into fits of laughter at the idea. “You see,” said Bart, “it would be the most magnificent thing ever undertaken on this hill. Besides, how splendid it would be to bring our ghost face to face with Pat’s own private ghost, and let them confront each other. What a tremendous, stupendous, overwhelming, and altogether unparalleled uproar there would be! Pat would then be confronted with something different from anything that he had been calculating on. We’d break down the panic of the boys, and it would all end in a roar of laughter.” “But what a row there’ll be!” exclaimed Phil. “I wonder which party’ll begin,” said Arthur. “Pat’s side, of course,” said Bruce. “I hope,” said Tom, “that our side’ll do his duty.” “O, we’ll have to keep him up to it. Donkey’s that can bray, and won’t bray, must be made to bray.” “He’s such an obstinate brute,” said Arthur, “that I don’t believe we’ll be able to do anything.” “O, we’ll manage that,” said Bruce. “The five of us are strong enough to pull him along if he won’t go himself.” “We can get a whip, or a stout stick somewhere,” said Phil. “No,” said Bart; “no beating if we can help it. I’m averse, on principle, to all corporal punishment. I formed a deep prejudice against it in my early school days. No, boys: remember what Pope says: ‘If I had a donkey, And he wouldn’t go,