looked at his watch. It was two o'clock only; but his nerves were too
highly strung to suffer him to sleep again, and he lay wondering what the
dream could signify.

Suddenly, while still wide awake, he was aware of the figure of the woman
of his dream standing by his bed. Her eyes were full of intense
supplication, and her hands stretched out to him in eager entreaty.
Yielding to a sudden, irresistible impulse, he exclaimed:

"Tell me, in God's name, who you are and what you want of me?"

The answer came in a clear, distinct voice:

"I am Elizabeth Ashol. I am suffering for a wrong done to my stepson,
Gilbert, a monk of your Order. Say Mass for my soul and I shall have
rest."

Then the figure vanished.

Father Vansome naturally had no more sleep that morning. Very early,
indeed, he was summoned to his mother's bedside by her maid, and found
her as agitated as himself. From her lips he learned that she too had
been visited by the figure he had himself seen. The woman, answering to
the description of his ghostly visitor, had approached Mrs. Vansome's
bed, when she was still wide awake, with outstretched hands and
entreating eyes, but no voice had been heard.

The apparition to his mother had convinced Father Vansome that what he
had experienced was no trick of the imagination. He had, however, taken
counsel with Val, who, like himself, was of opinion that the Mass ought