The applicant presented himself as “Jack — of the Lantern, of the Wisp, of whatever door will have him,” and sought a licence and a number, as the law provides for the uncommon sort.
The application is REFUSED, on the following grounds, entered by the clerk:
— That the applicant cannot be assigned to any registered lineage, being, by his own account, turned away at both the gates below and the gate above, and thus of no established kind this office recognises;
— That the register requires, for every soul entered, a date on which it may reasonably be expected to die, and the applicant could supply none, having here the paper is burnt through, the edges charred;
— That a man who cannot be buried cannot be registered, for the two offices share a ledger.
The applicant, on being refused, is recorded to have thanked the clerk warmly, taken up his lantern, and remarked that he “would call again.” He has not been seen since — see the picture, “A Matched Set” — though a small light has been noted, more than once, at the edge of the moor on nights the office was working late.