Year: 1866

HAD taken a lease of Gledhills of
my friend Mr.. Lomond. The latter,
before he would consider the business
settled, insisted upon my sleeping one
night at Gledhills. "Dobson and his
wife, who have charge of the house, will
find you tolerable dinner, and make
you up comfortable bed. / will walk
over in the morning at ten and sec you !;
and then, if you are still in the same
mind that you are in now, 1 will have
the agreement drawn up at once, and
you can enter upon your occupancy the
following day."


The Autumn day was drawing to a
close when 1 found mys elf walking up
the avenue toward the old mansion at
Gledhills. An old man answered my
summons at the door. He bowed re-
spectfully at sight of me, and informed
me that Mr.. Lomond had sent word
that l was about to dine and sleep at
Gledhills, and that everything was pre-
pared for my reception. AS / crossed
the threshold the great door closed be-
hind me with dull, heavy crash, that
vibrated through every corner of the
house, and awoke forebOding echo in
my heart. Preceded by my ancient
guide, whom age and rheumatism had
bent almost double, crossed the desc
late-loOking entrance-hall, passed up the
grand staircase, and SO through Il pair
of folding-doOrs into the drawing room,
beyond which was a suit of smaller
rooms, of which two had now been set
apart for my service. How chill and
cherries everything looked in the cold
light of the dying day! Now that the
glamour of sunshine rested no longer
on the place, my fancy refused to invest
any of those bare, desolate rooms with
the pleasant attributes of home; and al
ready, in my secret mind, halfrepent-
ed my facile eagerness in being so will
ing to accept, without further expert
ence, this worm-eaten old mansion,
tenanted, doubtless, by the ghosts of Il
hundred dead-and-gone folks, as shell
ter for my household gods, home for
all that held dear on earth.


The two rooms set aside for me
found to be comfortably furnished, in a
neat but inexpensive style; but when |
understood from the old man that ever
since the death of the last tenant, three
years before, they had been furnished
and set aside, ready for the reception OF
any chance visitors, like myself, who,
either by their own wish or that of Mr..
Lomond, might decide to pass night
at Gledhills, and three or four would
: be occupants before me had SO slept
there a night each, and had gone on
their several ways next morning, never
( to be seen under that roof again, | began
to think that there might perhaps be
something more in Mr.. Lomond's stipu-
lation than was visible on the surface.


Having dined, and done ample justice
to Mr.. Lomond's claret, and being pos
sessed in some measure by the demon
of unrest, took my cigar and strolled
along the corridor, and so came present
ly into the great empty drawing-room
in which the moonbeams were now
playing n ghostly game of hide-and
seek. 1t was uncarpeted and destitute
of furniture, and its Oaken floor creakeC
and groaned beneath my tread, a.
though it were burdened with some
dreadful secret which it would fain re
veal, but could not. Outside each of
the three long, narrow windows witt
which the room was lighted was smaf
balcony, below which stretched Il vel
vety eXpanse of lawn, set here and there
with Il gay basket of flowers, the who'll
being shut in by clump of sombre frs
j have said that the room was destitute
of furniture, but | found after tim,
that it still contained one relic of it
more prosperous days, in the shape ot
family portrait, which still huns
over the mantle piece as it had hung TO
half century or more. When l be
came aware of this fact | fetched one O
the candles out my sitting-room, in or
der that l might examine the pictur
more closely. 1t was full-length por
trait of a man in the military costum
that was in vogue toward the end o


last century. The face was very hand
some, with proud, resolute beauty o
its own, that would have been very AT
tractive but for a vague, repellent some
thing-a hint of fsomething tiger-like an


cruel lurking under the surface of tina
artificial smile, which the artist ha


caught with rare fidelity, and had tixe


on tho canvas forever. II must haV
been something in the better traits O


the countenance that taught me 10 see


liEnnD.a 10 Mr. | Anunnl. nnu I -.uL