Of Rick nothing was heard again,
although his brother searched diligently for more than thirty years."
"How," Val grinned at his brother, "did Richard explain the little
matter of the ghost which is supposed to walk at night?"
"I don't know. But when the Civil War broke out, Richard's son Miles was
the master of Pirate's Haven. The once-great fortune of the family had
shrunk. Business losses in the city, floods, a disaster at sea, had
emptied the family purse--"
"The Luck getting in its dirty work by remote control," supplied the
irrepressible Val.
"Perhaps. Young Miles had married in his teens, and the call to the
Confederate colors brought both his twin sons under arms as well as
their father.
"Miles, the father, fell in the First Battle of Bull Run. But Miles, the
son and elder of the twins, a lieutenant of cavalry, came out of the war
the only surviving male of his family.
"His brother Richard had been wounded and was home on sick leave when
the Northerners occupied New Orleans. Betrayed by one of his former
slaves, a mulatto who bore a grudge against the family, he was murdered
by a gang of bullies and cutthroats who had followed the invading army.
"Richard had been warned of their raid and had managed to hide the
family valuables in a secret place--somewhere within this very hall,
according to tradition."
Val and Ricky sat up and looked about with wondering interest.
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