“I galloped along till I reached the edge of the wild and barren heath, but then I felt faint, for I perceived another horrid sight in the distance! I was compelled to cross the heath, for it was my only way here to the Hall. Unable to guide my horse, I sat still shivering in the cold, knowing not what to do, when all of a sudden the one-legged sailor seemed to spring out of the earth close beside me.
“The next moment I found him sitting on the horse beside me!
“He took the reins, and the mare dashed onwards like lightning, as if neither of us were heavier than two straws.
“All I remember is that as we galloped along we came up to three fires on the roadside which burned with a dark blue flame, and around them were, shrieking and dancing—the Skeleton Crew!
“I fainted. When I came to my senses again we were at the Lodge gate.”
Sir Richard, Ned, the footman, and other members of the household, who had now gathered around, listened to Tim’s story with bated breath.
The footman looked terror-stricken, and trembled so, that, during the groom’s story, his pig-tail (the fashion in those days) gradually rose, until at last it stood stiff and erect above his head, a powdered pillar of horror.
“Is the lad dreaming, or is he turned crazy?” said Sir Richard.
“No; the lad is right, sir,” said the one-legged sailor, making bold to speak. “My name is Ralph Spray, your honour, late of the king’s navy; and, if so be as how I’m not intruding, I will tell you all about it. This ’ere good-natur’d lad, the groom, is almost turned grey wi’ only havin’ a peep at some on ’em, but how must it be wi’ me, who has fought with the Skeleton Crew?”
“Is it true, then, that there is such a crew?” asked the knight, in surprise.