A very homely sound broke the ghostly stillness.  The click of pattens on the paving-stones, and a carol hummed in the clear tones of a girl's voice, as her tall lithe figure came round the corner of the apparently deserted house.  A greater contrast to the melancholy scene could not be imagined than her young face glowing with life and health, the ruddy coils of chestnut hair, and the bright hazel eyes that roved far and wide over the empty landscape, as she caught the swinging gates, and began to tie them in place with a piece of cord.