Jelly drew near to him. She pointed to the house of Dr. Rane, and lowered her voice to a whisper.
"Mrs. Rane's there."
He looked across at the house--so apparently still and peaceful behind its white blinds; he turned and looked at Jelly. Not a syllable did he understand of her assertion.
"Mrs. Rane comes again, sir. She haunts the house. I have seen her twice with my own eyes. Once, the night of her death, just after she had been put into her coffin; and again this very night."
"Why, what on earth do you mean?" questioned Mr. Seeley in amazement. "Mrs. Rane haunts the house?--I don't understand you."
"Her ghost does, sir. It is there now."
The surgeon leaned against his door-post, and stared at Jelly as if he thought her mind was wandering. A minute or two passed in utter silence.
"My good woman, you need a composing draught as badly as Friend Beverage did just now. What is the matter with you, Jelly?"
In reply, Jelly told her story--as to the appearance of Mrs. Rane--from the beginning. But she cautiously avoided all mention of suspicion as to unfair play: in fact she did not mention Dr. Rane's name at all. Mr. Seeley listened quietly, as though he were hearing a fairy tale.
"Have you spoken of this to Dr. Rane?" was his first question.