Year: 1871

AUD
cunning, dirty looking fellow, with
very peculiar eyebrows, growing in
patches, as if he had the mango. He
looked as if he had been drinking, but
he did not speak thick, nor was his
gait or hand unsteady, but the blood
shot eyes and blotchy face made me feel
sure that he was not man I should
cure to leave in charge of house.
One other popularity noticed then,
and that was the great length of his
arms, which gave him the appearance
of a great ape.


He led the way down damp gravel
walk, overgrown with weeds, through
what had been little garden. On the
right hand side noticed large patch
of very rank grass round broken
sun dial. l remarked to the man that
the soil seemed pretty rich there.


eyes, he answered with kind of
hoArse chuckle, "tle grass do grow
very thick and sweet just there; and it
ought to, considering what's under
Meath"


"Why, what is underneath there?" "


"Clay, of course" he answered, with
another chuckle, and by this time
found myself at the front door of the
house.


It was a singular little place. The
windows of what was probably the
dining room opened into rickety old
verandah, which terminated ut the
porch. This porch projected some
little way from the house, and at once
struck me as space very much ILL.,
utalized, since there was no room
above. Two urns, that looked as if
they were afflicted with the gangrene,
surmounted the front door; the lattice
work that had once been put up for
the creepers bad nearly all rotted away
One or two chimneys were quite ready
to drop, and the whole place looked as
if it was built of moldy cheese.


Not in very good repair, this
house," observed to my hideous
guide.


"Oh, quite good enough. Only
wants little touching up here and
there"


l can't tell you when it was that the
peculiar feeling, which had taken me
ever since looked at this uninviting
property, pronounced itself so strongly
as to become distinct sense of horror.
But it was so now, and as I looked up
at the puckered face of this ape-like
man, 1 saw something that made me
almost utter cry of dread. But re-
strained myself; [ should not have
been such a fool any other time, but
had been now walking about for seven
hours, and my breakfast had consisted
of one cup of tea.


We entered the house, and in the
passage we found woman waiting for
us. "My wife," said the m"n, "she
will g. through the rooms with you )"
and then he disappeared through the
house into the back yard.


The woman took me into the rooms
on the ground floor. Iobserved moth
ing remarkable about them, except
that they were very gloomy. There
were no rooms on the basement, except
cellars. The kitchen, scullery, ETC.,
were on the ground floor. I saw that
there was yard, with stables and
wash-house in it; went into the sta
BILE, and found that it was little more
than q shed; the wooden back abutted
on some waste ground, enclosed by the
low wall of the lane which have men
toned before. Altogether, I never
saw such lonely house so near the
busy part of the west end of London.
I asked the woman how far it was to
Piccadilly, and she told me only fifteen
minutes walk. She turned out to be
quite right, for I had wandered round
and round so much in that days expe-
dition, that / was much nearer the civ
iized region Of Belgravia than
thought.


The peculiar feeling which I have
mentioned was still strong on me.
was perfectly sure, that somehow or
other I had lighted on the real clue to
my dear friends fate. I dare say you
will laugh at me, pratical old money
getting foggy, when tell you that
ielt, as I descended the staircase of
this house, that James Bayle was close
beside me


AS said, there we're only two sto-
ries to the house; but it was strag-
Cling sort OF building. The woman
took me through sitting room which
she called the drawing room, but
which, in its present state, was much
more like lumber room with nothing
III it, and through this, across pas
sage to a mucL smaller room, which
she and her husband used as DWELLING
room. There were two children, of
very unprepossing appearance-a boy
and girl. They were fighting for
something when we entered, and we
had hardly G It inside the room before
saw that the boy had wrested from his
sister small pencil case.


What have you got there, my little
man?" l said. "Let me look" He
showed it me with some pride There
was no mist king it. 1t was a some
what peculiar one, made of ebony and
silver, and I recognized it at once as
having belonged to James Bayle.


suppose my face must have betray-
ed my aggitation for the woman looked
at me closely, and then remarked.


"It's pretty little thing as little
JOHNNY picked up the other day when
he was out if 1 could find who it be-
longed to, I should be glad"


"Oh, it's not worth much" I said
"it's well it has fallen into such honest
hands,"


We now went up three steps, and in
to q larger room, bedroom.


''This is the best bedroom" she
said I" there is another one next it, in
which a servant or the nurse and child
could sleep very conveniently"


saw nothing in the room worth no.
ticing, and followed my conductress in
to the next one. These rooms all had
doors opening into the passage. ]
thought I heard the handle of the door
move as we came in. There was pc
culiar smell here, a very sickly smell.
1 began to feel uncomfortable, and
was at loss how to act. There was NO
reason to disbelieve the woman's state.
ment about the pencil-case; and yet
felt sure that it was untrue I went to
the window. in order to gain time. ]
heard the passage door open, and when
I turned round the man was standing
there.


II hope the gentleman likes the
house," he said. 1t is little damp,
but it is very cheerful in the summer,
and so quiet"


"I suppose there is not much more
to see It's rather gloomy place"
"Well, you see, it's dark sort Of a
day, but with little trouble it might
be made beautiful villa" The man
had moved to the door leading into the
bed room, os if he was going through.
When he said tn1o he turned round
from the door; he had onc Of his long
arms in the pocket of his coat, which
Was omen. I noticed that MANY IF b;s