The Mystery of Cloomber

t the Hall was to be inhabited once more, and considerable speculation as to the new tena

ly determined upon a lengthy stay, for relays of plumbers and of joiners came down f

ll as spick-and-span as though it had been erected yesterday. There were abundant signs that money was no considerati

the breakfast table. "Perhaps he has chosen this secluded spot to finish some magnum opus upon

loquent manner in which he spoke o

literary tastes. If I might hazard a guess, I should say that he is here upon medical advice, in the hope that the complete quiet and fresh air may rest

Poor souls, how lonely they will be! Why, excepting ourselves, ther

a very distinguished sold

came you to know a

of three years back," he explained, "and here is the very gentleman we want-'Heatherstone, J. B., Commander of the Bath,' my dears, and 'V.C.', think of that, 'V.C.'-'formerly colonel in the Indian Infantry, 41st Bengal Foot, but now retired with the rank of major-

hether he is married or not

of his own humour. "It doesn't include that under the heading of 'da

ccasion to ride into Wigtown, and I met upon the way a carriage which was bearing General Heatherstone and his family to their new home. An elderly lady

an to pull up, and held out his hand to me. I could see now in the daylight that hi

sque the other night-you will excuse an old soldier who has spent the best part of his life

ur blood," said I, wondering a

fe, "allow me to introduce Mr. Fothergill West to you. This is my son and

ssibly have come to a

t indeed, and very lonely. You might walk through these cou

not many about af

andering beggars, eh? Not many tinkers or tramps

, drawing her thick sealskin mantle tighter rou

we are. Drive on, coachm

Hall, and I trotted thoughtfully onw

Mr. McNeil ran out from his of

ne out," he said. "They

on the way,"

see that his face was flushed and that he bor

I understand them. 'What shall I fill it up for?' says the general, taking a blank cheque out o' his pouc

andlord had paid you

n an auld postage stamp. That's the way business should be done between honest men-though it wouldna do

said I, "I have

t, except a drop before breakfast to give me an appetite, and maybe a glass, or even twa, afterwards

ad an opportunity of

his forehead wit

, shaking his head at me. "He's gone, sir, gone, in my estimati

k cheque to a Wigtown

eaport, and whether ships come there from the East, and whether there were tramps on the road, and whethe

nly think him ec

el' in a house with a high wall round the grounds, an

I asked, humou

an, with a bubble of laughter, in the midst of which I rode on

of entering into such simple pleasures as the country had to offer, or interesting themselves, as we had hoped, in our attempts to impr

founded upon fact, for gangs of workmen were kept hard at work from early in the m

xceptionally daring climber. It was as if the old soldier had been so imbued with military ideas th

cer of Wigtown, told me himself in a rapture of delight and amazement that the general h

omment. Over the whole countryside and as far away as the English border there was nothing but g

the factor-namely, that the old general and his family were one and all afflicted with madness, or, as an alternative

cumstances, but neither of them appeared to me to

view was such as to suggest some suspicion of mental disease, but no man could have

secluded life that he did himself, so that the r

s bleak and lonely, but it was not such an obscure corner of the world that a well-known soldier could hope to c

he love of quiet, and that they had taken shelter here with an almost morbid craving for solitude and rep

rning with the weight of a gre

ust make yourself smart, for I have determined that the three of us shall drive

er," cried Esther,

nvinced that he would wish me to call upon these newcomers and offer them any politeness which is in our power. At present th

om the Persian poets there was no chance of shaking it. Sure enough that afternoon saw the phaeton at the

ip briskly, "we shall show the general that he

s and shining harness were not destined that day to impre

rge wooden placard, which was attached to one of the trees in such a manner that no one could possibly pass without

ND MRS. H

NO

INC

OF THEIR AC

ponies' heads round, and drove home with compressed lips and the cloud of much wrath upon his brow. I have never seen the good man so thoroughly moved, and I am convinced that his ang