Page:Hallowe'en festivities (1903).djvu/102

98 Might congregate, unnoticed and alone. At my wits' end, I thought, there's one last chance; Mayhap, across the sea, the newer world, With less of legend and tradition, May offer us a haven, where, in peace And unmolested, we may work our will."

"Yes, yes, I see," cried I; "you came here thinking the Jersey coast the farthest possible remove from a ghost-haunted atmosphere. But what is your work? What are you contemplating that excludes your fellow-ghosts?"

"Marley's Ghost!" I exclaimed. Surprise and delight had now entirely melted my icy calm, and I rose to shake hands cordially with Marley's Ghost as with an old friend. The hand-shaking gave me a peculiar sensation, for though I could see his hand grasp my own and jog up and down with it, yet I felt nothing but a handful of ice-cold air, like an evaporated snow-ball.

All my life I had been familiar with Marley's Ghost, and now he stood before me: the same face; the very same Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots, with his chain clasped about his middle; and when he sat down in an arm-chair and wrung his hands and gave a frightful cry, I realized afresh that this was truly Marley's Ghost that I had known and loved for years.

"It is extremely awkward, my dear sir," he said, "to object to a man's presence in his own house, but I will explain our predicament in a few words, and perhaps you can aid us in some way."

"My services are at your disposal," said I, for just at that moment it seemed to me that to assist Marley's Ghost and the Ghost of Hamlet's Father was the only aim of my life.

"We are about to organize a club," went on the spirit of Jacob Marley, "of Ghosts Who Became Famous. Now,