Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-01-25


bowed politely and offered some
conventional reply, though this deep air
Of mystery puzzled me.
You are a strong man, Mr.. Create
rex he continued, surveying me seri-
ously. Il must tell you that have no
one sleeping in the house save my
housekeeper and maid The man you
saw. who took your horse, sleeps IN
cottage at LIanellan." He paused. i
was unfortunate enough to lose my
valet q month ago and SO far have been
unable to fill his place.
/ began to understand. He was in
some fear Of his lonely condition. Pos
sibIy he dreaded an attack By his late
assailant. Suddenly too, ran into my
memory the scene in the tapro0m on
the previous night, the miller and his
long pipe and his story: There was
that same tale that should have been
exciting about burglary. And here
was in Iyor castle.
IF you are thinking of that scol1n
tirel!'' began. Surely the police
He interrupted me with smile.
'sThe police, Mr.. Greatpfex, are seven
miles from Ivor castle. But pray do
not misunderstood me. shall be in
fnitely obliged by your company. Its
long Since had an intelligent CONVEX
sation. But | would not detain you If
you had any scruples about staying"
laughed. Not I = said I. will
stay and gladly And in truth meant
it, for the adventure interested me not
little. Was it burglars?
1t was in the dining room that we
spent the evening. This was long,
low rooted chamber occupying the
ground floor and opening with win
dows upon the cobble courtyard on the
one side and the meadows Of the park
on the other. 1t was a great chamber
to contain but two people, but some
how the black oak of the walls and the
general air of the upholstery prohibited
the thought Of discomfort These walls
were not vacant, nor this space, but
tenanted, if one considered duly, by a
concourse of illustrious faces and high
stepping ghosts. Upon this point, as it
happened, was not long left in Curl
osity, for Mr.. Kesteven was in the
mood to confide the history of the cas-
tie to me- He was queer creature,
partaking9 as it seemed to me, Of the
most diverse and incongru0uS emo
tons. Constantly he would set me
wondering upon his statements, striv-
| ing to pick some order in their appar-
ent confusion. One moment quite a
sounding pride rang in his pompous
annunciation of the titles of some great
noble, while the next L was driven to
| suppose by very clear signs that he dis
played nothing but a pitiful contempt
toward the whole prejudice of race and
family. The man struck me as wear
| ing a mask, and that mask of such
severity and primness as to offer very
| few secrets to his company. And even
at his moments of most spacious frank
ness was never able to determine the
depth of its genuineness.
He fetched me out some wines, Civ
| ing me a generous choice, but himself
drinking but sparingly.
mo, thank you; have never smok-
ed,' said he in reply to my offer of a
cigar win you not smoke yourself,
Mr. Greatorex2 And pray try that
port. / understand it to be of partic-
ular year He insisted gently upon
helping me from the decanter and then
| dropped softly into his chair.
| Suddenly he rose and going to a win
dow threw it open and leaned forth.
heard somewhere from the deep re
cesses Of the old house a clock striking
the hour of l. Mr.. Kesteven closed the
| easement and turned to me.
81 fear, Mr.. Greatorex," he said, with
a smile, that have fetched you here
under false pretenses, but at least you