Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-11-17
THE BASILISK-
A STORY OFTO-DAY.
CHAPTER TX.
ON THE WATCH.

I was not sorry to take Miss Beau
toys hint as to betaking myself to
duties; there was a very considerable
pleasure in them, Independent of: the
personal charm OF my pupil. =
In very short time we had settled
down into quiet routine of life, where
in we might have been living for years
instead Of for few days only, so even
~ and. to outward seeming, SO calmly
did our existence proceed at Hanover
Lodge. -r-.,.-
One of my first cares was to dispense
IS far as possible with the attendance
of Hardy. found that he was only
meant to act as temporary guardian.
but l would in any case have soon
learned my way about the house quite
well enough to dispense with any
special care. And under the new cir
cumstances his attentions were less de-
sirable than ever. Finding me very
apt at taking care of myself, he very
soon reduced his attendance on me to a
minimum. to our mutual satisfaction.
Mr.. Beaufoy was rarely seen. He
appeared at dinner and came into
the drawing-room for a short time
afterwards. He did not contribute
much to the conversation, but
talked on general topics with me,
as much as po]iteness required. His
demeanor towards Miss Beaufoy was
rather deferential, and TO Mary con-
strained and rather patronlsing. It
was a most curious exercise of the
memory and of the imagination to
contrast the formal and altogether I'M
interesting paterfamilias, presented in
general by my host and employer, with
the passion and fury of the white-faced
man who, for some mysterious reason,
was about to shoot me the morning I
had heedlessly strayed into his sanctum.
That scene was photographed on my
mind, not less distinctly because it had
been so brief. The fact involved itself
in my imagination with the fate Of
Mary Fortescue. l could not tell how.
I only felt that she was not really one
of them. any more than l was. There
was close alliance and understanding
between the father and the daughter,
and there was some extraordinary Sc
cret also shared between them. I
found it difficult to believe that Mary
would be kept in the house out of mere
philanthropy, and, on the face of it,
concluded that she might be in want of
friend on the spot. I was very will
ing to look upon myself as that friend
providentiallY sent to her aid.
noticed very soon that Hardy, as
well as Miss Beaufoy, seemed to have
the entree to the forbidden apartments.
Miss Beaufoy had not mentioned the
fact to me when explaining how her
father disliked any intrusion. But it
struck me as more than odd. that a
philosopher, whose zeal for research led
him to point revolver at a blind man
who had intruded upon his privacy,
should apparently give the run of his
laboratory to rough specimen OF
humanity like Hardy. To be sure the
Hardy family might have claims to be
considered on a confidential footing, for
Mrs. Hardy was the cook of the house
hold, aud the only other female servant
was cousin of hers. So l learned
casually from Miss Fortescue.
While spent a few quiet and really
pleasant days in my now home, could
not get the idea of these condolences
out of my head, and they took at last
the form of a very decided desire and
determination to investigate the mys-
terry little on my own account.
There was the more reason for this, as
I had considerable amount of time
quite at my own disposal. some OF
which 1 devoted to a survey of the
premises.
found that Mr.. Beaufoy's rooms
did not look out into the largo garden,
but that a high wall, enclosing a
quadrangular space, environed that
part of the house in which they were
situated. There was a small door in
this wall, by which, as l seldom saw
Mr.. Beaufoy coming in or out of the
hall-door, judged that he generally
let himself in or out.
Except for this, which in itself was
little enough, and for the fact that the
door at the end of the lobby, which had
on that one occasion given me admit
lance to the forbidden precincts, was
invariably shut and locked when any
one emerged from it in my hearing,
there was nothing whatever about
Hanover Lodge to lend itself to ideas
of mystery or crime.
The house was large, modern, and
comfortable. The living was excel
lent but unpretentious. My own room
was a very nice one, up in tower at
one angle of the front, which tower
was we'll covered with ivy, and gave al.
ready picturesque aspect to house
which, but for its aid, would have been
like great deal of the earlier revival
of picturesque red-brick building
very red. and far from picturesque.
As have said, made it my task tG
wean Hardy from a too assiduous de
votion to me. He seemed rather to
take to me in consequence-in grim,
gruff way, certainly; still, he INDUCED
in q hard jest or two now and then,
and while willingly humoring my
forop r,hon ho fon,.d T oon1d rot