" 'I am quite at leisure now,' I said; 'what
do you want?'

"'Well, sir,' he began, with some embarrassment,
clearing his throat two or three times,
'I am sorry to trouble you, but did you observe,
sir, how odd the men were just now, as you
went round their room?'

"'I did observe something unusual, but
thought it best to take no notice for this once.
What is the matter with the men?'

"'Well, sir,' continued the sergeant, his
embarrassment growing greater, 'it does seem
rather ridiculous, and yet it is true. The fact
is, sir (for it is no use mincing the matter),
the men declare they have seen a ghost passing
through their room for two nights past, and
they swear they won't sleep there again.'

"'A ghost !' I repeated with a stare of
amazement at the man, half doubting whether
he were in his right senses. 'What humbug is
this, sergeant? Let me hear no more of it. If
ghosts were realities—which they are not—I
should be ashamed of the men if they could be
afraid of ghosts.'

"The sergeant said no more, but, touching
his cap, turned and withdrew, while I slowly
pursued my way. I had looked upon the matter
as nonsense, I had treated it lightly, and been
almost angry at the silliness of the tale; yet
it had left a deeper impression upon me than I
liked, or chose to admit to myself. Was this a
dim, vague presentiment of what was to come?
Perhaps it was.

"I was half angry with myself for harbouring
the feeling, and determined to shake it off.
I entered a room where two or three of my
companions were assembled, and recounted what
had passed between me and the sergeant. They
all laughed, and declared that I had done quite
right in forbidding anything more to be said on
the subject.

"The monastery consisted of three buildings:
one long front building, and two wings. The right
wing formed the chapel, and the other contained
the rooms and cells once occupied by the monks.
In the centre of these buildings was a large court-
yard, from which you passed into the garden, and
thence descended into the valley beneath, planted
with trees and shrubs. The court-yard was quite
empty, save the fountain stood in the centre;
an arrangement not unusual in southern
countries.

"The day passed as other days had passed;
some fished, some lounged about doing nothing,
Harrison and I wandered away from the rest
taking our guns with us, and did not return until
late in the evening. We had been more than
usually joyous, and I had almost forgotten the
occurrence of the morning, when, on entering
the court-yard of the monastery, we were
surprised to perceive the men's blankets all
arranged in order round the yard. Before either
of us had time to make a remark, the sergeant
who had spoken to me before came up, and without
further preface informed me that, the night
being extremely hot, the men had brought out
their blankets to sleep in the open air, as they
could not be persuaded to receive another visit
in their room from their midnight intruder. I
made no objection to their preferring the cool
air to the stifling heat of their room, and at
dinner it was quietly arranged that a few of us
should not go to bed at the usual time, but
should remain up to watch.

"It was a clear bright night. Beautiful as
nights can be only in southern climates. I had
seldom seen anything more striking than that
grim old monastery, with its turrets and belfries,
its grated windows and massive iron portals, and
its large surrounding trees, standing out clear
and distinct under the rays of a full moon. And
beyond it, about half a mile off, lay the small lake,
calm and quiet beneath the branches of the
graceful trees which grew on its edge, and
bent their slender boughs into its water.
Upon its smooth surface the heavens were
reflected; each particular star looking down upon
its image.

"A few of the officers, including Harrison
and myself, had gone into the court-yard
about eleven o'clock, determined to wait there
until the clock struck one, and then, if
nothing appeared, return quietly to our rooms.
The men had all laid down, but I am sure
there was not one of them asleep; not a light
was to be seen anywhere about the building,
for at an appointed hour they had been all
put out. Growing tired of waiting for the
ghost in vain, Harrison and I walked up and
down the yard, the others following our example;
and we were already thinking of going in, when,
as the clock struck half-past twelve, Harrison
suddenly stopped short, touched my arm, and,
without saying a word, pointed towards the
chapel. His movement had been noticed by the
rest, and all eyes were immediately turned in
that direction, when we perceived issuing from
one of the windows overlooking the yard a faint
greenish light. We said nothing, but drawing
to one side, stood still. In a few moments we
saw emerging from the same window a white
spectral figure, holding in its right hand a small
lamp, evidently the source of the strange light
which had attracted our notice. The apparition
moved slowly along over the beds of the men,
though evidently its feet did not rest upon
anything, and looked at them all as it passed;
then, reaching our group, it turned its gaze upon
us for a moment, and disappeared through the
left wing of the building.

"A dead silence succeeded; we were all too
much astonished to speak, and we looked at one
another. Then the silence was broken by a
murmur of triumph among the men, and we
were obliged to acknowledge that we had seen
their ghost, and could not account for it.
Various surmises and conjectures were broached,
and we determined to discover what the ghost
was.

"Next day we were all astir early, and every
room in the old monastery was examined; not
corner but was thoroughly searched. Up and
down, right and left, above ground, and in the
vaults below, not a place but re-echoed the