The House of a Thousand Candles

ached the house seemed to encompass it. The branches of a great tree brushed the panes

thing hap

h a window and I had narrowly escaped being shot. I resented

e, that's all," I said, in a voice that failed to be calml

w up the sash with an ease t

o my assailant. Bates opened another windo

from without,

u didn't suppose I sh

pane and picked up th

le-ball, I

he wall. It was a cartridge ball of large caliber a

of metal, a troubled look in his face. He at once continued, as though anxious to allay m

ddenly that Bates s

fiercely. "You fool! Do the people around here shoot ducks at night? Do they shoo

e so that it leaped away from him

manded, "and fe

of the geography of the region were the vaguest, but I wished to examine for myself the premises that evidently contained a dangerous prowler. I was

with leaves which broke

eyond here?"

mile of woods, sir

rdered, "straig

haracter of the grounds; I was following a man whom I had not seen until two hours before, and whom I began to suspect of all manner of designs upon me. It was wholly unlikely that the person who had fired into the windows would lurk about, and, moreover, the light of the lantern, the crack of the leaves and the br

ly and I stopped to rub

ed Bates solicitously, t

having the time of my life. Are

s idea not to disturb the wood at all. He w

, I hope! Whe

ar the la

n go

hless woodland, and, I must confess, with the

gravelly beach, and Bates s

m dock, sir; and th

us. As we stood silent, peering out into the starlight, I heard di

spered Bates, hiding th

eful, the most sensitive, the most inexplicable contrivance of man. With its paddle you may dip up stars along quiet shores or steal into the very harbor of dreams. I

to the Glenarm dock, and had made off when alarm

ou a bo

haven't the key with me, sir,"

and at my own helplessness. I had not even seen the place by daylight, and the woodland behi

way back,"

nly there stole across the water a voice,-a

if I were you!" it said, with a

at are you doing

ranquil thought!" was the

y its outline for a moment; then it was gone. The lake, the surrounding wood,

t, merry g

ed Bates, after we had waite

pose ladies prowl about here at night,

eem quite l

s already moving away, the lantern swinging at his side.

possible, to be sure, that the bullet which narrowly missed my head in the little dining-room had been a wild shot that carried no evil intent. I dismissed at once the idea that it might have been fired from the lake; it had crashed through the glass

uld I imagine any errand that would excuse a woman's presence abroad on an October night whose cool air inspired first confidences with fire and lamp. There

t, merry g

old, men or women, were probably not greatl

now ap

our room's ready whenev

ut in search

had a theory, sir, that they were conducive, as he said, to idleness. He considered that a man sh

t his quotation from my grandsire. But the fellow puzzled and annoyed me. His unobtrusive

t shot through the window, who

t's quite a large question who

thout flinching; nor was there anything ins

heard the crash in the refectory window. The bull

t acquitted myself creditably in my effort to fix the crime on him. My abuse of

erely joking. What's your

me against theories. He said-if you will pardon me

nd his was not the brogue of the Irish servant class. Larry Donovan, who was English-born, used on occasions an exaggerated Irish di

noe? How do you accou

here's no women on these grounds, or

armers, people of some kind

e's the school quite a bit

proprietorship, my own wall

ntioned it. But the girls hardly paddle on the lake at n

Mr. Glenarm. It's a pretty strict sch

chers-they a

ghbors, and they go away in the summer usually, except Sister Theresa. The school's her regular home, sir. And there's th

e terms of my grandfather's will to prevent my cultivating the acquaintance of a clergyman. It even occurred to me that this might be a part of the game: my soul was to be watched over by

I said, rising, "

eat brass candelabrum that hel

ys used this one to go to bed with. I'

man's voice. My grandfather's memory was dear to him

lenarm, Bates?" I inquired, a

ou went abroad. I remember very well his sp

luster of lights high for my

rd to the eye. Rough planks had been laid down for a floor, and beyond the light of the cand

s, pausing a moment before opening a door. "It's all quite u

the

shelves filled with books lined the apartment to the ceiling on every hand, save where a small fireplace, a cabinet and table were built into the walls. In the ce

aned

s room for working. The to

from the nearest shelf and threw it open on the table. It was

it with

room is beyond

d; "and it doesn't make any differe

replied in a tone that

ch chateaux, and like suggestions of the best things known to architecture. The bed was the commonest iron type; and the other articles of f

t without a timepiece, and he was quite punctual. His ways were a little odd, s

declared. "And my grandfather's break

nothing fu

all;-and

Mr. Gl

didn't really mean to imply tha

to mention it

If you should gain any light

ainly

night. These duck hunters hereabouts are apparently reckless.

ow. It was rather odd, I reflected, that the shades should have been open, though I might account for this by the fact that this curious unfinished establishment was no

s words, that he liked the open. These are eastern windows, and he took a qui

e. That's

e outer door and watched his departing figure, lighted

r as my knowledge of the house would permit. Then, in unknown regions, I could hear the cl

, and this I set up on the mantel in the little sitting-room. I felt to-night as never before how alone I was in the world, and a need for companionship and sympathy stirred in me. It was with a new and curious interest that I peered into my gra

d comparatively poor. In so readily accepting the terms of the will and burying myself in a region of which I knew nothing, I had cut myself off from the usual channels of counsel. If I left the place to return to New York I should simply disinherit myself. At Glenarm I was,