'How do you account for it?'

'H'm.' Maumbry lowered his voice. 'Some crime committed by certain of
our regiment in past years, we suppose.'

'Dear me . . . How very horrid, and singular!'

'But, as I said, we don't speak of it much.'

'No . . . no.'

When the Hussar was gone, a young lady, disclosing a long-suppressed
interest, asked if the ghost had been seen by any of the town.

The lawyer's son, who always had the latest borough news, said that,
though it was seldom seen by any one but the Hussars themselves, more
than one townsman and woman had already set eyes on it, to his or her
terror. The phantom mostly appeared very late at night, under the dense
trees of the town-avenue nearest the barracks. It was about ten feet
high; its teeth chattered with a dry naked sound, as if they were those
of a skeleton; and its hip-bones could be heard grating in their sockets.

During the darkest weeks of winter several timid persons were seriously
frightened by the object answering to this cheerful description, and the
police began to look into the matter. Whereupon the appearances grew
less frequent, and some of the Boys of the regiment thankfully stated
that they had not been so free from ghostly visitation for years as they
had become since their arrival in Casterbridge.

This playing at ghosts was the most innocent of the amusements indulged