Page:The Decameron of the West (1839).djvu/175

 was that of an old man, with a scarlet mantle wrapped round him, and what he said was to the following purport: ‘The landlord who sent you here is a malicious fellow. I now intend for ever to abandon this castle, and to take up my nightly quarters in the bedroom of this rascal, and, moreover, to torment him more than a night-mare would do, by pinching his ears till the blood spring, unless he furnish you with food and wine, free of all charges, till such time as your hair is grown.

A cold sweat instantly bedewed the forehead of mine host, and, in trembling accents he muttered that the keys both of his cellar and pantry, as well as the best chamber in the inn, were at the disposal of Francis, as long as he chose to continue his guest. The latter accepted of his offer, though he often slept at the old castle, which the Spectre Barber never again revisited. The owner of the mansion felt so grateful to the young stranger who had exorcised the noisy ghost, and thus rendered the dwelling again habitable, that he made him a present of a stately charger, richly caparisoned, also a liberal allowance for travelling expenses; and now, in merry mood he hied him homewards to his native town.

The mind of our hero was no doubt much engrossed, thinking who the friend might be that was