Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber’s Note
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WAS
IT A
GHOST?

THE MURDERS
in
BUSSEY’S WOOD

AN EXTRAORDINARY
NARRATIVE.

LORING, Publisher.

BOSTON
1868.

_PRICE, 75 CENTS._

=Loring’s Publications.=

CHOICE FICTION.

THE GAYWORTHYS. By the Author of ‘Faith Gartney’s
Girlhood.’ 8th Edition. $2.00
INTO THE LIGHT: or, THE JEWESS. 1.75
PIQUE: A Tale of the English Aristocracy. 15th Ed. 1.50
SIMPLICITY AND FASCINATION: A Tale of the English
Gentry. 3d Ed. 1.50
MAINSTONE’S HOUSEKEEPER: A Tale of the Manufacturing
Districts. 9th Ed. 1.50
THE QUEEN OF THE COUNTY. 4th Ed. 1.50
BROKEN TO HARNESS. By EDMUND YATES. 4th Ed. 1.50
RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. ” ” 3d Ed. 1.50
MIRAMICHI: A Story of the Methodist Blacksmith. 1.25
MOODS. By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. 3d Ed. 1.25
A LOST LOVE. By ASHFORD OWEN. 4th Ed. 1.25

=For Young Ladies.=

FAITH GARTNEY’S GIRLHOOD. 16th Ed. 1.75
JUDGE NOT: or, HESTER POWERS’ GIRLHOOD. 2d Ed. 1.50
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MILLY: or, THE HIDDEN CROSS, A Romance of School
Life. 3d Ed. 1.50
HELEN FORD. A Romance of New York City Life. By
HORATIO ALGER, jr., 1.50
COUNTESS KATE. By MISS YONGE. 3d Ed. 1.25

=For Young Gentlemen.=

MARK ROWLAND. A Romance of the Sea. By HAUSER
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THE BOYS AT CHEQUASSET. By the Author of ‘Faith
Gartney’s Girlhood.’ 1.25
FRANK’S CAMPAIGN. By HORATIO ALGER, jr. 1.25
PAUL PRESCOTT’S CHARGE. ” ” 1.25
CHARLIE CODMAN’S CRUISE. ” ” 1.25
RAGGED DICK: A Story of New York Boot Blacks and
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TIMOTHY CRUMP’S WARD—and What Came of It. 1.00
THE LITTLE GENTLEMAN IN GREEN: A Fairy Story
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WAS IT A GHOST?

THE MURDERS IN BUSSEY’S WOOD.

An Extraordinary Narrative.

LORING, Publisher,
319 WASHINGTON STREET,
BOSTON.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
A. K. LORING,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the District
of Massachusetts.

ROCKWELL & ROLLINS, STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS,
122 Washington Street, Boston.

DEDICATION.

I dedicate this book to that philosophy which can argue without anger, can have a disbelief without sustaining it by insolence; which can pause on the brink of a chasm, and, because there happens to be no bridge by which it can cross over, will not proclaim to all the world that no bridge can be built; to the philosophy which sees as much beauty in a doubt as in a solution, and has not ventured, or mayhap will never venture, to affix a limit to human thought, or define the prerogatives of our Lord and Creator. I do not dedicate it to the Free Thinker, but to the Just Thinker. The highest reverence exists oftener than otherwise in the humblest soul, and the night of our ignorance is lit by stars to accustom us to the effulgence of the dawn. The future is the poetry of our hope; the present our rest, from which we extend the wings of memory for the longer and more glorious flight toward the end. My work will be found to look faintly but fondly to those things, if it is read aright; and so in all and everything I humbly say that I have no higher ambition than to serve my Master.