"Is it from France?"
"No, dear; it is from the land of spirits!" answered Dalhousie, with a good-natured laugh.
"Indeed! I was not aware that you had a correspondent there."
"But I have; and I am exceedingly obliged to him for putting me in possession of such useful information as this letter contains."
"Pray, who is your ghostly correspondent?"
"Colonel Dumont,—a deceased brother of the worthy Jaspar, in whose employ we now are."
"Do not jest, Francois!" said the lady, as a feeling akin to superstition rose in her mind.
"Jest or not, the letter was written by him," continued her husband, still retaining his playful smile.
"To you?"
"Not exactly; but I presume he meant it for me, or it would not have slipped so easily through Mr. Dumont's fingers into mine."