"Jack, my boy, you were but the instrument, and no responsible agent," continued his son-in-law. "From what you tell me, the house was most undoubtedly haunted—the air vitiated and poisoned as by a pestilence, from having been the seat of deep crime. I know something of these phenomena, and I have always heard and read that there is no thorough or lasting purification in such cases save by fire. Take, for example, the Fire of London. That broke out, providentially, after the Plague, in order to purify the City. The burning of your inn was a necessity, as it had been rendered uninhabitable through being haunted, and you were chosen as the instrument."
"Why! Good Heavens!" cried Jack Hearty, drawing his chair suddenly back, and looking straight into the face of his son-in-law, while a fat hand rested on each stout knee. "To think that that should never have occurred to me before! Why, of course, it must have been so. I see it all as plain as a pike-staff."
"You were not yourself, Jack, on that occasion," pursued our artist. "You were beside yourself, which means that your will, already unfeebled, was subjugated by some outside power—viz., the will of some disembodied spirit stronger than your own, who made use of you as his instrument."
"It is quite true, sir," replied Jack, "I was not myself at the time. Well, well—it is some consolation to think it had to be done, and that there was no way out of it."
Here the ladies re-entered the room, and the conversation took another turn.
"Now, Jack," proposed McGuilp, before all present, "since matters have turned out thus, what do you say to becoming steward of my estate—my man of business—caretaker of my house when I am away, and live here with the missus to the end of your days?"
"Oh, sir!" exclaimed Jack Hearty and his wife together, "you overwhelm us with kindness. How can we ever repay you our debt of gratitude?" and tears started to the eyes of the old couple.
"Then so be it," said the now rich landowner.
"Dear, dear, Van!" exclaimed his young wife, as she threw herself upon his neck and covered him with kisses. "You have made me so happy."
And so it was that the little family party jogged on from day to day as united as birds in a nest.