"Well, I have told my story. I wait for you to suggest the explanation of the second part; the first will explain itself when I bring to you, in a few days at most, and with the hearty consent and approval of the castle's present proprietor, the Countess Maria Regina, the haughty daughter, the ghost-lady herself, as found on the rainy day in the tower.
"I am so well, so happy, so rich in life and thoughts and hopes! I owe it all to you, and I thank you again and still again, and sign my last letter from the Halden with the sweet salutation of the country, 'Grüss' Gott!'
"Devotedly yours,
"Morris Davidson.
"Midnight, June the first."
In the same mail Miss Valentine received a letter from her niece and namesake, who was travelling with friends from Munich to Geneva.
"My dearest Aunt,—I can't possibly go to sleep without telling you about this beautiful day. Of course you knew we were going through Zurich, but you did
not know we were going to give ourselves the joy of stopping for a little glimpse of the Halden country.
"We took a very early train this morning, and without waiting at the village, went directly on that glorious ten-mile walk to Obstalden, and dined at the inn 'Zum Hirschen.'
"You remember it—there where we tried to express ourselves once in verse:
"The pasture-lands stretched far overhead,
And blooming pathways heavenward led,
As on the best of the land we fed
At the pleasant inn 'Zum Hirschen.'