"An hour ago—then why isn't he home?"
"I can't say," said her husband callously, opening the evening paper.
At this point an unearthly yell broke the silence of the house, and Ellen rushed into the room, flinging herself beneath the table.
"It's come after me," she screamed. "It's at the side-door—Oh lor! Oh lor!—it's there, all white an' all. Oh, don't let it get me—I don't want to die—I'll repent—I'll—Oh lor! Oh lor!"
Mr. Brown laid down his paper with a sigh.
"What is it?" he said wearily.
"Oh lor! Oh lor!" sobbed Ellen, beneath the table.
A figure appeared in the doorway—a wild figure, with a fierce, indignant, aggrieved expression and hair that stood up round its face, a figure that clutched a ragged table-cloth round it with certain enraged dignity.
"It—it—it's William," said Mrs. Brown.
******