The House of a Thousand Candles

l wearing their festal colors, scarlet and brown and gold, with the bright green of some sulking companion standing out here an

tone and piles of lumber were scattered about in great disorder. The house extended partly along the edge of a ravine, through which a slender creek ran toward the lake. The terrace became a broad balcony immediately outside the library, and beneath it the water bubbled pleasantly around heavy stone pillars. Two pretty rustic bridges spanned the ravine, one near the front entrance, the other at the rear. My g

s neighbors amused me. All I asked was that t

me the carefu

enarm. I trust you re

night. The morning light gave him a pallid cast. He suffered my exam

called the platform. I bel

lsinore: A Platform

arm's little fancies, y

oes the murdered majest

r. Glenarm, the house is quite incomplete. My

played upon the man's lack of humor. My grandfather had been possessed of a certain grim, ironi

like, sir,"-and thus admonis

ssue of a Chicago daily. I was, then, not wholly ou

re particularly interested in the old times. He wasn't what you

that, Bates. He was a med

pply it to himself. The plain omelette was a great favorit

tes. And your coffe

lenarm. One does

comfort and safety which I appreciated. The broken pane told the

sir," Bates remarked, seei

ssume that you understand the circumstances," I said,

o, Mr. G

know, and all I want

as just as well, I reflected, to assert a little authority, even though

shall settle down to work in the library. You may give me breakf

y late master

broth, meat pie and canned strawberries. Strawberries in tin

you, sir, if you wil

the b

ickering. He sends me an allowa

ort to him, are yo

I had lighted a cigar and wa

that's the

your freedom curtailed, to be conscious of espion

es in the outer wall and one for the St. Agatha's gate; they're marked, as you see.

y arrival, and I set out for Annandale to send him a telegram. My spirit lightened under the influences of

d its probable cost with amazement. There were, I reflected, much more satisfactory ways of spending money than in building walls around Indiana forests. But the place was mine, or as good as mine, and there was

in the fashion of the country, inspecting my knickerbockers at the same time with frank disapproval. I reached the lake and gazed out upon its quiet waters with satisfaction. At the foot of Annandale's main street was a dock where several small

" I said. "Any

ed and fell int

gh to pay for

hat. I'd hoped t

," he remarked, eying me again,-my knicke

e is Glenarm, and

pecting you here in the village. I'm John Morgan,

l knew my grandfa

o in a hurry. He kept pretty much to himself. He built a wall there to keep us out, but he needn't have trouble

sentment in his voice,

The house and wall were in the line of his experiments, and to please his whims. I hope the people of the village won't hold a

ontract to work for him, Italians, or Greeks, or some sort of foreigners. They built the wall, and he had them at work inside for hal

," I said, remembering with amusem

ank all right," said

h the resident of Glenarm. He was about forty, light, with a yellow bea

ponsibility for him and his acts," I rem

o one of the shops. I continued on to the railway station, where I wrote and paid for my

grams delivered at

rned away to his desk of clicking in

the post-office, so I made myself known t

d me. "There's a boy carries the mai

mparting it with a certain severity. I then bought a cake of soap at the principal dru

em; but the station-master, the girl at the post-office and the clerks in the shops treated me with an unmistakable cold reserve. There w

Morgan had intimated as much; but it did not greatly matter. I had not come to Glenarm to cultivate the rustics, but to fulfil certain obligations laid down in my grandfather's will. I was, so to speak, on d

not to see me. A moment later he jumped

heavy timbers showing in the walls and low ceiling. There was a great fireplace having an enormou

eived me

t from an old kitchen in England. He took quite a pride

top. A great iron hasp with a heavy padlock and grilled area windows gave further the impression of a cell, and I fear that at this, as at many other things in the curious house, I swore-if I did not laugh-thinking of t

nce that it was just as well to have a dungeon in a well-appointed hous

with brass candlesticks of many odd designs. I shall not undertake to describe my sensations as, peering about with a candle in my hand, the vagaries of John

als and Influences. Then I went out, assuring myself that I should get steadily to work in a day or two. It was not yet eleven o'clock, and time was sure to move deliberately

r at the rear of the house. His industry had already imp

freeze to death, do you? There must be en

Glenarm always preferred it to beech or maple. We only take out th

heard it's the best firewood.

through the wood to the lake and inspected the boat-house. It was far more pretentious than I had imagined from my visit in the dark. It was of two stories, the upper half being a cozy lounging-room, with wide windows and a fine o

was of the same solid character here as along the road. I tramped beside it, reflecting that my grandfather's esta

e of the same general character as the Glenarm estate. The little Gothic church near at hand was built of stone similar to that used in Glenarm House. As I surveyed the scene a number of young women came from one of the school-buildings and, forming in twos and fours, walked back and forth in a rough path that led to the chapel. A Sister clad in a

carf and straightening my collar as I

and stumbled over a low-hanging vine and fell, not ten yards from where I lay. To my great surprise it was Morgan, my acquaintance of the morning. He rose, cursed his ill luck and, hugging the wall close, ran toward the lake. In

elf out, threw my legs over the school side of the wall and lighted a cigar, feeli

t of color in the wood. They were not more than twenty feet away, but a wild growth of young maples lay between us, screening the wall. Their profiles were toward me, and the tones of the girl's voice reached me clearly, as she addressed her companion. He wore a cl

him. I shan't see him under any circumstances, and I'm not going to Florida o

," said the chaplain. "You understand that I'm o

eresa!" interrupted the girl contem

n, laughing. "Well, I thank you for giving

s figure was to be in my own affairs. As I swung down from the wall and walked toward Glenarm House, my thoughts were not with the athletic chaplain, but with the girl, whose youth was, I reflected, marked by her short skirt, the unconcern with which her hands were thrust into the pockets of her coat,

with a sharp appetite