have been made directly tributary to England—how Russian ambition should have been levelled with the dust—how we should have countenanced American repudiation—and how a British colony should have been made of the Celestial Empire at once.
And thus he amused and amazed them all, until the hour had arrived at which the spirit was expected to re-appear; when, summoning all the courage they had, they repaired to the quiet churchyard.
The night was clear. The moon was bright, and seemed to smile at the scene below; and while the stars merrily winked at each other, as if they enjoyed it too, the small white clouds in a playful spirit assumed shapes bearing the semblance of ghosts, and flew before the moon in the perfect conviction that she would at once cast their shadows to earth. But in this they were mistaken. The moon would do nothing at all of the sort. The light was not her own; it was but borrowed: and, therefore, she didn't feel justified in lending it for any such purpose to these little scamps.
Accordingly, no shadow appeared; and the party became quite bold. They even went right round the church! which was daring. They kept all together, it is true—not one of them would move without the rest— still they went completely round, and seemed to dare that or any other spectre to appear!—nay, on finding that nothing of the kind became visible, some began to treat the affair with contempt, and felt inclined to laugh, when Pokey, who had kept a remarkably sharp look out, exclaimed—
"There!—there you are!—that's it!—there it is!"
And there it was!—a narrow tomb, surmounted by an urn about the size of a very thick head.
Being, however, utterly unconscious of this, and having their minds on the instant wrought up to a state fit to receive any frightful impression, they looked with terror at the object before them, and felt as if their time was come.
But then it didn't move!—this they held to be extraordinary: nor did it seem as if it intended to move!—which they thought more extraordinary still, That it was a ghost, no doubt existed; but the fact of its being a fixture, beat them.
At length Click, the farrier, who was not a coward, proposed that they should approach it en masse, and this proposition was seconded by Legge; but as it was almost unanimously negatived, Click and Legge made up their minds to go together, and went, leaving their valiant friends trembling behind them. Long, however, before they had reached the object in view, they saw distinctly what it was; and Legge, on the impulse of the moment, was about to call out to them, but Click checked him promptly.
"Hold your tongue, Legge!" said he. "Now we'll have a game."
And he led him to the tomb and groaned deeply, and then led him back to his friends, who felt ill!
"Obadiah Drant," said Click, on his return, in the most solemn tone he could assume, "it wishes to speak with Obadiah Drant."
"With me?" cried Obadiah. "You don't mean with me?"
