Vol.1 f.022 recto

the key of the church in the other."
At this point of the narrative, the [????] dress of the strange man
rustled as if he had turned himself to hear more distinctly. Slightly pointing over
his shoulder, Solomon elevated his eyebrows and nodded a silent inquiry
to Joe whether this was the case. Joe shaded his eyes with his hand
and peered into the corner, but could make out nothing, and so shook
his head. [Solomon Daisy ???????]
"It was just such a night as this, blowing a hurricane, and
[???????????????] raining heavily, and very dark[dash] I
often think now, darker than I ever saw it before or since; ???
[???????????????????????]that may be my fancy, but the houses were all close shut and the folks in- doors, and perhaps
there is only one other man who knows how dark it really
was. I got into the church, chained the door back so that
it should ????? keep ajar -- for, to tell the truth, I didn't like [??????????????] to be shut in
there alone -- and putting my lantern [??]on the stone seat in the
little corner where the bell-rope is, sat down beside it to trim
the candle.
"I sat down[??????] to trim the candle, and when I had done
so I could not persuade myself to get up again, and go about my
work. I don't know [what] how it was, but I thought of all the ghost stories I had ever heard, even those that I had heard when I was a boy at school, and had forgotten long ago; and they didn't come into my mind one after another, but al1 crowding at once, like. I recollected one story there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year (it might be that very night for anything