"Oh, no, by no means. Snap-dragon by candlelight! who ever heard of such a thing? It would wash all the dragon out of it, and leave nothing but the snap. It is a necessity of the game that it should be played in the dark,—or rather by its own lurid light."
"Oh, there is a lurid light; is there?"
"You shall see;" and then she turned away to make her preparations.
To the game of snap-dragon, as played at Noningsby, a ghost was always necessary, and aunt Madeline had played the ghost ever since she had been an aunt, and there had been any necessity for such a part. But in previous years the spectators had been fewer in number and more closely connected with the family. "I think we must drop the ghost on this occasion," she said, coming up to her brother.
"You'll disgust them all dreadfully if you do," said he. "The young Sebrights have come specially to see the ghost."
"Well, you can do ghost for them."
"I! no; I can't act a ghost. Miss Furnival, you'd make a lovely ghost."
"I shall be most happy to be useful," said Sophia.
"Oh, aunt Mad, you must be ghost," said Marian, following her.
"You foolish little thing, you; we are going to have a beautiful ghost—a divine ghost," said uncle Gus.