The Lair of the White Worm

o to Liverpool through what is called 'The Great Vale of Cheshire.' You may be disappointed, but take care not to prepare your mind"-this to Adam-"for anything stupendous or heroic. You would not t

nd, besides, it will be more pleasant to have the intr

ses-magnificent animals, and keen for work. Breakfast was soon over, and they shortly took their

s signal, the carriage drew up opposit

r part of the seventh century-in memory of a murder. Wulfere, King of Mercia, nephew of Penda, here murdered his two sons for embracing Christianity. As was the custom of the time, each passer-by added a stone to the

and the passenger-there was only one-was regarding them curiously. The carriage was an old heavy travelling o

you do, Mr. Salton? I hope you have

heavy springs was broken across, the broken

an soon be

ne near who can mend

c

the dapper young gentleman who spok

am an Australian, and, as we have to move about fast, we are all trained to

m Africa to-day. It is a notable home-coming; all the countryside want to do him honour." She looked at the old men and quickly made up her mind as to the identity of the stranger. "Y

. She was already among the snakes when he called out to warn her. But there seemed to be no need of warning. The snakes had turned and were wriggling back to the mound as quickly as they could. He laughed to himself behind his teeth as he whispered, "No need to fear there. They seem much more afraid of her than she of them." All the same he began to beat on the ground with a stick which was lying close to him, with the instinct of one used to such vermin. In an instant he was alone beside the mound with Lady Arabella, who appeared quite unconcerned at the incident. Then he took a long look

m, said that if any of his uncle's party were going

come and go just as you do in Lesser Hill. There are some fine views, and not a few natural curiosities which are sur

Sir Nathaniel had thanked her for the invitation-of which, however, they said they were unable to avail themselves. Adam had a suspicion that, though she answered re

was glad to be rid of us. She c

ame?" asked Ad

o be. When he committed suicide, it was found that he had nothing left, and the estate was mortgaged up to the hilt

came to several conclusions, though his lips were unmoved. One of these conclusions was that he would be very careful about paying any atten

ived them graciously, and said what a pleasure it was to be coming home after so long an absence of his family from their old seat. Adam was pleased at the warmth of the reception; but he could not avoid a feeling of repugnance at the man's face. He was trying hard to overcome this whe

e all the hideous possibilities of a lost, devil-ridden child of the forest and the swamp-the lowest of all created things that could be regarded as in some form ostensibly human. Lady Arabella and Oolanga arrived almost simultaneously, and Adam was surprised to notice what effect their appearance had on each other. The woman seemed as if she would not-could not-condescend to exhibit any concern or interest in such a

bailiff of Lesser Hill, who had followed Mr. Salton in a pony trap. As he spoke, he

some things to do in Liverpool, and I am sure that both Mr. Caswal

where Ross, the animal merchant, lives-I want to take a small animal home wi

y. What kind of anima

ongo

at on earth do

ill s

ered the mound of stones.

d what was wan

g special, or will an

e. But I see no need for anything

got lately from Nepaul. He has a record of his own. He killed a king cobra that had been seen in the Rajah's gar

carrying the box with the mongoose, Sir Nath

ongo

at

ill s

haniel

s invitation to you to

arth has that go

waited, and the old man went on: "Have you by any chance h

, s

a lot of talking over. Suppose we wait till w

tter not to hurry matters. All would come in good time. Then the three

egis, and for the time Adam thought no more of Diana's Grove

was only when he saw the old-fashioned travelling carriage approach and heard the sound of cheering which went with it, that he realised that Edgar Caswall had arrived. Then, on looking more

d. The order of the day had been carefully arranged by a committee. There were some speeches, happily neither many nor long; and then festivities were suspended till the time for feasting arrived. In the interval Caswall walked a

and attractive. There were lots of pretty girls among the crowd, and Adam, who was a handsome young man and well set up, got his full share of admiring glances. These did not concern him much, and he remained unmoved until there came along a group of three, by their dress and bearing, of the farmer class. One was

taken by the pretty girl, and spoke of her to

ier when he was just over twenty, and was drafted abroad. He was not a good correspondent, though he was a good enough son. A few letters came, and then his father heard from the colonel of his regiment that he had been killed by dacoits in Burmah. He heard from the same source that his boy had been married to a Burmese, and that there was a daughter only a year old. Watford had the child brought home, and she grew up beside Lilla. The only thing that they heard of her bir