Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-11-20
CHAPTER ".
THE HOUSE BY THE LOCK.

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be for the present somewhat OF free
! lance. | had wished not to be Obliged
! to account to anyone as to my goingS
and cOmings. l had not wanted any
| invitations to family festivities on
| Christmas Day TO keep me from be-
! ing lonely" My desire had been to go
| exactly where the whim of the moment
! might lead me, and without a moment
hesitation l had declined the invitation
to Christmas dinner" which poor
Farnham had dragged for me from his
| friend, Carson Wildred 1t might
amuse me, Farnham had thought, as
| Wildreds house uD the river was a
| queer old place, interesting to anyone
who cared for that sort of thing, and
they two were dining quite alone. Will
dred and he had had some final arrange
ments to settle up, and as Christmas
was such an "Off day" so far as amuse-
ments were concerned, it had been Will
dred's idea that they should utilize it
in this manner The other man took
Farnhams hint, and civilly gave the
required invitation, OF course, but even
had it been offered with enthusiasm,
should not have been tempted to ac-
cept.
nation to call at the House of the Lock,
as it was called. l would not dine
there, | told myself, but there must be
an inn in the neighborhood, where
could obtain some slight Christmas
cheer If | chose to embark upon the
rather mild adventure Of going up the
river on this wintry holiday.
It was years since | had been in Eng
q oil, Of o
stroll by the Thames along a country
towing-path was not so dismal as it
might have been to those who had not
tramped with the equanimity of GUS
tom through African jungles.
Once the idea had taken root in my
mind, | was impatient to carry it out
l would go, | decided, almost immed-
lately, lunching at the nearest decent
inn to Purley Lock, and turning up at
Wildred's house at four or five in the
afternoon. 1 would spend an hour
there, perhaps, and return to town in
time for dinner.
| had not got up particularly early,
had breakfasted late, and by the time
| was inclined to start it was past one
o'clock ! had over an hours journey
to Great NARROW. the nearest railway
to follow, before | could reach the
Chinese Inn, which I was told was the
only one within some distance of Pur
ley Lock.
It was a quaint old hOstelry I found,
and an agreeable landlord, who had
hardly expected guests at so out-of-the-
way a place on Christmas day, and
having finished his own midday repast,
was very ready for gossip with me.
Oh, yes, he said. he knew the House
by the Lock, quite we'll. 1t was in
reality situated at some little distance
from the Lock itself quite a quarter Of
a mile, but then it was the nearest
house. and perhaps that was the rea-
son it had got its name. 1t was a very
old place, but MI Wildred; since talk
ing it about two years before, had had
a great many alterations and improve
ments made both outside and in. He
was something of an architect himself
it seemeG-this rich Mr.. MILDRED, at all
events. it was believed that he had
made eli the designs for the altera-
tons and having a great fad that way
had even helped The chaps he had had
down from London to do the indoor
work and decorating. There had only
been two or three men. so that progress
had been slow, and everyone had Won
de,ed that such a rich man as Mr.. Will
dred was reported to be should have
had things done in so niggling a way
But. since then, they had concluded
that he must have known what he was
about, for everyone who went there
came away with great reports of the
decorations.
| was not particularly interested in
these details that my landlord had to
tell me.
Though, after all, there was an indie
Enable curiosity in my mind regarding
all that concerned Carson Wildred
And | got away from his animated
gossip in the course of half an hour or
so. | had a walk of a mile tOtake.
having dismissed my fly. and meaning,
after | had paid my rather aimleos
visit, to tramp all the way back to Mar
low again, and. as ! started, clock on
the inn stable struck four.
There was a long streak of gold
along the horizon OF the otherwise dull
grey sky, and a rising wind mOaned
dTearily along the bare lower branches
Of the trees.
The scene looked indescribably DESC
late and yet there was a certain beauty
in it, too. l had been told exactly how
to reach the House by the Lock. and
when, after passing the somewhat
weedy- looking lock, l began skirting
along a species Of backwater. and
came in sight of long, low-brOwed
house close to the river. | knew l had
reached my journeys end.
The place had the appearance of be
ing only restored remnant of an an
cient abbey fallen into decay.
,, Indeed, at one end of the house a
ruined wall jUJted out, with row of
stone window-frameS. ha f filled in with
sombre trails OF ivy; then in the mid
die came the habitable part of the old
house, with an imposing front door,
which might have belonged to some big
Gothic church; magnificent windows,
which reminded me of a certain dear
old college at Oxford, we'll known in
younger days: and beyond. to the left,
was the wing evidently added by Will
bred 1t was in wretched taste, l
thought. with its pretentiousness and
its huge round tower at the end. utterly
out of keeping with the rest. Then, as
| criticised, my eye was caught by a
puff of fiery smoke that suddenly rose
above the battlements of the hideous
tall tower.
could not quite understand this phe-
nomenon, for the tower, so far as l
could see, had been merely built with