Ww. V.

began to communicate some interesting re-
miniscences of what had happened “ before
she came here,” to this planet; but some-
thing interrupted her, and she has not
attempted any further revelation. There is
nothing more puzzling in the world to her,
I fancy, than an echo. She has forgotten
that her own face in the mirror was quite as
bewildering. A high wind at night is not
a pleasant fellow to have shaking your window
and muttering down your chimney; but an
intrepid father with a yard of brown oak is
more than a match for Azm. Thunder and
lightning she regards as “ great friends ; they
always come together.” She is more per-
ceptive of their companionship than of their
air of menace towards mankind. Darkness,
unless it be on the staircase, does not trouble
her: when we have said good-night out goes
the gas. But there seems to be some quality
or influence in the darkness which makes
her affectionate and considerate. Once and
again when she has slept with me and
wakened in the dead of night she has been
most apologetic and self-abasing. She is so
sorry to disturb me, she knows she is a
16