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624 understand him, and I did get terribly exasperated with his irregular habits. And now, Miss Kamp," she continued, "I have a request to make of you. I do not want you to ask any questions. I have told you all it is necessary for you to know about my affairs and my relationship with the spirit of my deceased husband. One of the stipulations I shall make in offering you the position is that you solemnly pledge yourself to the utmost secrecy regarding all that I have told you. You will also promise faithfully not to try to unravel anything which may appear mysterious to you, or to investigate any spiritual phenomena which may occur in these apartments. If you are truthful in saying that you are not superstitious, then you will not be afraid, and nothing can happen which will disturb you."

"I understand," murmured Miss Kamp.

"You will find very little, if anything, to do, except to make up the beds in the morning, as you will have no maid. As I told you, the place is small, only seven rooms and a bath, and so I think by having a charwoman come in twice a week to sweep and dust you ought to get along very nicely. I wouldn't mind your having a maid, or two of them, for that matter, only on Mr. Townsend's account""

Her listener smiled faintly. "Oh, no; that is not the reason, my dear Miss Kamp, I assure you. It is because women servants always irritate my husband. He used to threaten to dispense with them entirely and employ only men—Chinese or Japanese. In fact, the servant-girl question always was a matter of dispute between us. I wouldn't have a Chinaman and he was continually finding fault with the maids. Whenever he mislaid any of his things, his collar-button or necktie, he blamed them for hiding it or stealing it, and usually made me discharge the girl before he discovered his mistake. That is why I don't wish you to have a servant at all. I take it that you wouldn't care about being shut up here alone with a Chinaman, and, of course, you naturally would wish to avoid any scene with my husband."

"Oh, my! I should say so," hastily declared Kate.

"Mr. Townsend will probably be home a great deal more now, however, than he was during his life with me," continued the Widow. "He is nearing his forty-third year now, and though he occasionally spends a night at his club, he is really becoming quite settled and enjoys nothing more than his dressing-gown and slippers; a good cigar, and a book. He is very fond of books. Just come and look at his library." She rolled back the sliding doors of rich, carved Flemish oak, which formed one entire end of the long drawing-room.

"How beautiful!" the girl cried in honest admiration, as they stepped into the rich, sombre-tinted, book-lined room. The big, round table, the high-backed, carved chairs, the cabinets, everything was of ebony. There was a Turkish rug on the black, polished floor, and the