the truth of them, as I see these flowers before me, and feel the gravel
under my feet: it came to me in a moment, the night these terrible eyes
looked into mine. The feeling did not last, but I have never forgotten
it, and never shall. It was as if a veil were lifted for an instant, and
I was standing outside of my life and looking back at it; and it seemed
so poor and worthless and unreal--I can't explain myself properly."

"And did the figure remain for any time?"

"I do not know. I think I must have fainted. They found me lying in a
half-unconscious state in my chair when they came home. I was ill in bed
for weeks with what the doctors call low fever. But neither the fever
nor anything else could remove the impression that had been made. That
terrible thing was a blessed messenger to me. My real conversion was
not till years later, but the way was prepared by the great shock I then
received, and which roused me to a sense of my danger."

"What do you think the thing you saw Was, Mrs. Mostyn?"

"The ghost?"

"Yes."

Slowly, thoughtfully, she answered me--

"I am certain it was a lost soul: nothing else could have worn that
dreadful look."

She paused for a few moments and then continued--