went along they the of the village and in a short time lighted upon the man trap its discovery simply added an item of fact without helping their conjectures but s indefinite alarm was greatly increased when holding a candle to the ground he saw in the teeth of the instrument some from grace s clothing no intelligence of any kind was gained till they met a of who said that he had seen a lady answering to the description her father gave of grace walking through the wood on a gentleman s arm in the direction of was he clutching her tight said well � rather said the man did she walk lame well tis true her head hung over towards him a bit groaned not suspecting the presence of coupled this account with the man trap and the scream he could not understand what it all meant but the sinister event of the trap made him follow on accordingly they bore away towards the town shouting as they went and in due course emerged upon the highway the previous information was confirmed by other though the gentleman s supporting arm had disappeared from these later accounts at last they were so near that informed his faithful followers that he did not wish to drag them farther at so late the an since he go on alone and if the woman who had been seen were really grace but they not leave him alone in his anxiety and onward till the from the town began to their fronts at the entrance to the high street they got fresh scent of the pursued but coupled the new condition that the lady in the costume described had been going up the street alone faith i � i believe she s or walking in her sleep said however the identity of this woman with grace was by no means certain but they along the street the hair who had of her was standing at his door and they duly put inquiries to him ah � how s little folk by now he said before replying never have i been over there since one winter night some three year and then i lost myself finding it how can ye live in such a one eyed place great is bad enough � but little � the and would drive me melancholy mad it took two days to raise my to their true pitch again after that night i went there mr sir as a man s that put by money why not retire and live here and see something of the world the at last given by him to their guided them to the building that offered the best accommodation in � having been enlarged with the construction of the railway � namely the earl of hotel leaving the others without made prompt inquiry here his alarm was lessened though his perplexity was increased when he received a brief reply that such a lady was in the house do you know if it is my daughter asked the waiter did not do you know the lady s name of this too the household was ignorant the hotel having been taken by brand new people from a distance they knew the gentleman very well by sight and had not thought it necessary to ask him to enter his name oh the gentleman appears again now said o himself � well i nt to se the lady be declared the a message was taken up and after some delay the shape of grace appeared descending round the bend of the staircase looking as if she lived there but in other respects rather ty and frightened why � what the name � began her father i thought you went out to get oh yes � i did � but it is all right said grace in a whisper i am not alone here i am here with it is entirely owing to an accident father i an accident how does he come here i thought he was two hundred mile yes so he is � i mean he has got a beautiful practice two hundred miles off he has bought it with his own money some that came to him but he travelled here and i was nearly caught in a man trap and that s how it is i am here we were just thinking of sending a messenger to let you know did not seem to be particularly enlightened by this explanation you were caught in a man trap f yes my dress was that s how it arose is upstairs in his own sitting room she went on he would not mind seeing you i am sure oh faith i don t want to see him i have seen him too often already til see him another time perhaps if tis to oblige ee he came to see me he wanted to consult me about this large i speak of as it is very promising oh i am glad to hear it said a pause ensued during which the inquiring faces and brown clothes of s companions appeared in the door way then t you coming home with us he asked i � i think not said grace blushing h m � very well � you are your own mistress he returned in tones which seemed to assert otherwise and retreated towards the door don t be angry father she said following him a few steps i have done it for the best i am not angry though it is true i a the in this however good night i must get home along he left the hotel not without relief for to he under the eyes of strangers while he conversed with his lost child had embarrassed him much his search party too had looked awkward there having to the task of investigation � some in their shirt sleeves others in their leather 