perhaps it was all true after all, for certainly no young girl could set
fire to a barrel of shavings in the cellar and be at that instant in
another part of the house, under the watchful eye of an older sister,
who was continually at her side. The fact that both the little boys were
out in the front yard at the time the fire was kindled, and consequently
could not have had anything to do with setting it, was also calculated
to throw an air of mystery around the whole affair.

The family believed that it had been started by the ghost. The fire
marshals of the village seemed to be of the opinion that Esther set both
fires herself; the villagers held various opinions. Dr. Nathan Tupper,
suggested that if a good raw hide whip were laid over her back by a
strong arm, the manifestations would cease at once. Fortunately for
Esther, no one had the right or power to beat her as if she were a
slave, and so the mystery still remained unsolved.

For the next week manifestations continued to take place daily and were
as powerful as ever. The excitement in Amherst was intense. If the
cottage in which Dan lived should catch fire when the wind was blowing
from the bay, the fire would spread, and if the wind was favorable for
such a terrible calamity, the whole village would soon be reduced to
ashes.

As if to pile horror upon horror, one night, as Esther and the entire
family were seated in the parlor, the ghost appeared. Esther started to
her feet and seemed for the moment paralyzed with terror. In a second or
two, however, she recovered her self-possession, and pointing with a
trembling hand to a distant corner of the room, exclaimed in a hoarse
and broken voice: