Page:Hallowe'en festivities (1903).djvu/100

96 From this deep sleep I awoke suddenly and with a jump.

The room was dark, save for a tiny spark of night-light. I looked and listened, but could see or hear nothing alarming; yet I felt an irresistible impulse to rise and go down-stairs.

I was not frightened; I had no thought of fire or burglars. I simply rose and put on my bath-robe and slippers because I could not help it.

For the same reason, I went out into the hall, down the stairs, and into the parlor. This was a large apartment, which was already decorated in Hallowe'en fashion.

As I entered, I was surprised to notice the chill air of the room. I crossed the room, though I grew colder with every step, and sat down in an arm-chair near the fire-place.

There was no fire on the hearth, but I did not select my seat with a view to warming myself, but because I was unable to resist the power that pushed me into that particular chair.

As I sat there, I was cold, extremely cold, but not shivering; the calm iciness of the atmosphere seemed to imbue my whole being, and I sat, silent and immovable, with a half-conscious sense of admiring my own magnificent inanition.

Then the thought came into my mind that I was about to see a ghost. Even this did not startle me.

So when the misty, frosty air gradually settled into a distinct though semi-transparent shape, I knew at once that I was in the presence of a ghost. And then, as I looked with interest upon his ghostship, there seemed something familiar about him. I was sure I had never seen a ghost before, yet that tall, commanding figure walking" toward me with a stately and solemn step seemed somehow like an old acquaintance".

I gazed at the ghost more curiously. He wore a complete suit of armor, of an antique make that appealed strongly to my collecting instincts, and my fingers fairly itched for his wonderful helmet. His face was that of an oldish man, yet his flowing, dark beard was only partially silvered, and his expression, though a trifle sad, seemed to betoken a strong noble nature. Undoubtedly he was a ghost, and a ghost of