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wii | 8d an. im] en suit at some future 'whole, 1 came to the sonolus Rafi foes hot thie ateerothis anata apse ul gor--this he able danger--which appeared x! at every turn, and to Rang 2 towers of Cloomber, me a8 being si father and the son h: ndently of each other, that if 1 were ld what the il was, 1 would hardly realize ita significance. How strange and bizarre must the fear be which can scarce be expressed in Intell le Janguage, 8 4 held up my hand. in the darkness ore I turned to sleep that night, and I swore that no power of man or devil should ever weaken my love for the woman whove jure heart I had had the good fortune to win, CHAPTER VII In making this etatement 1 have pur- posely. conched it in bald and simple guage, for fear I should be accused of coloring my narrative for the sake of ef. fect: If, however, I have told my wufory with any approach to realism, ér will understand me when I say that by this time the succession of dramatic incidents which had occurred had arrent- od my attention and excited my imagin- ation to the exclusion of all minor topics. How could I plod through the dull rou. tine of an ni's work, or' interest my- self in the thatch of' this tenant's bothy or the eails of that one's boat, when my mind was taken up by the chain of 'events which I have described, and was still busy seeking an explanation for them? Go where: I would over the countryside I could 'sée 'the squaré white tower shoot- ing out from among the 'trees, and Dbe- neath that. tower this ill-fated family were watching and waiting, waiting and watching---and for what? the question which stood like an: impas- sable barrier at the end of every. train of thought. Regarded merely as an ab- act problem, this mystery of the erstone family had a lurid fascina- tion about it, but when the woman whom 1 Joved a thousandiold better than I did myself proved to be. wo deeply. interested in 'the olution," I felt that it. was impos. sible to turn my thoughts te anything else gil it had been finally cleared y up. father had received a lefter|W from ird, dated from Naples, which told us that he had derived much benefit from the change, and that he had no in- tention of returning to Soptland for some time. . This was satisfactory to all of us, for my father had found Branksome such an excellent place for study thas it would have been. a sore trial to him to return 10 the noise and tumult of a city. As to my dear sister and myself, there were, us | I 'have shown, Stronger reasons still 'to make us love the Wigtownshire moors. In spite of my interview with the gen- eral--or perhaps 1 might say on account of it--I took occasion at least twice a day 10. walk toward Cloomber and satisfy my- | well that all was well there. He had be Fut by. reseuti my intrusion, but: he ad ended by taking me into a sort of half confidence, and even by asking my an_old soldier so Te 10 gee ; "What corps did you serve #4 "H Battery, Royal Horee Artillery, Bad cess to the eervice and every one dn it! Here I am nigh sixty years of age, with a beggarly pension of thirty-eight pound Jeunob enough to keep me in beer and acdy. "1 should : have shought thirty-eight Jound ten a year would have been a nic lp to ou in your old age," I remarked. "Would yon, though?' he answered with a sneer, Pushing his weatherbeatén face forward until it was within a foot of my own. "How much d'ye think. that slash with & tulwar is 'worth? = And my foot with all the bones rattling about like a |B bagful of dice? . What's that worth, ehP And a liver like a sponge, and ague when. eyer the wind comes pound to the east-- what's the grkot value of that? , Wounld you take the lot for .a dirty forty pound 8 year--would you now?" are poor folk in this part of the country," I answered. You would pass for a rich man down here." | "They 'are Simple folk and they have simple tastes," said he, drawing a black pipe from his pocket and stuffing it with of J speaker. the general ox He faisly, A puoned back and hig | goun- tenance blanched to a livid n d gray. For a moment he was too Srepcome to speak, At last he gasped out, "Ghooleb Shah1 who are you. who know Ghoolab "Take another looky" sald the tram D3 ice | "your sight is not ae keen as it wad forty ago." The general took a long, earnest 100k at the unkempt wanderer in front of him, and as he gazed I saw the light of recog: nition pring up in hig oe: W my soul!" he cried. 'Why eye pome ou. 1t at! Inst/2 ald 'the "You'ye' come on at' last," ; other, chuekling to himself. "I 4¢as won- dering how long it-would he bef FA n ies ral 5 And firet of all just this gate, will youP It's hard through # grating. It's too much like ten minutes with a visite i ? 'hie general, whose denoces of his agitation," w with nervous, tremblin cognition of Corporal Rufus fancied, been 'a relief to hi tobacoo, "I know. what good living. is; and plain ghowed by his ner while I have a ehilling in my pocket like to spend it as a 'shilling should be spent. I've fought for my country snd my country has done darned little for me, rn ¥o to the Rooshians,. 80 help mel could gl layas 80 that it would pussle 'either Af: ghaas or British to stop 'em. . What's tha secret worth in Bt. Petersburg, 1 wonder{" "I'm" ashamed to hear an old soldier pe: "eaid I sternly. 'Jeat, indeed!" he copied, With a great oath. "I'd have done it yenrs if the Rooshians had been gime to take it up. Skobeloff was the best of the bunch, but he's been snuffed out. However, that's nei- | fox ther here nor' there: What I want to ask Jou is whether you've ever heard anything n this quarter of a man called Heather- storie, the samé who used 10'be colonel of | 90 the 4lst Bengalees? They told me at Wis: town that he lived somewhere down this ay. "He lives in that house over there," sald I, 'pointing to Oloomber = Tower. "You'll find the avenue gate =m little way nthe road, but the general isn't over fond of visitors." i 3 The 'last part of the speech was lost upon Corporal Rufus: Smith; for the in- stant that 1 pointed out the gate he eet off hopping down the road. is of rogreasion was the most singular which have ever seen, for he would only put his right foot 'to 'the ground once in every half-dozen strides, 'while he worked 80 Hard and attained euch a momentum with the other limb th @ got over the | thing. ground 'at an astonishing speed. I was so surprised that I-etood in the roadway gas ng after. his hotking figure until the thought suddenly struck me that some serious result might vome from a meet- assistance, so 1 felt that I ftood upon 8 ing between a man of uuch' blunt speech a different footing with him than done formerly, and 'that he waa-less like- 'esénce. ; In- - ' imanner foward me was civil, though he' made no allusion to our former 'conver astion. He appeared to be 'still in an es.' 'treme 'state of nervousness, Stari from Sime to time, and gasing fart) voly. AbOBE . Iihoped that his daughter was right 'in: naming the 5th of October as the turn- {iug-potnt of his complaint, for it wae t to. me, as I looked at his gleam. ing eyes and quisering hands, th man wootlld . not liye long euch 'a state of Bervous tension, | 1 "founid on examination that he had fastened so and 'the choleric ~hot-headed general. ' I therefore followed -him..as-he ho ped along h at the 'avenue gate, Wi ere at dark oarpiage-dr yo 5 ; ARE "He's "a sly old doa he said," loo! round at me Aud todd ing. his head in the direction of the Hall. "He's & old | th dog. And thats "his Dubgaiow. oi on wmong the trees "That 18 <house," I answered: "but I shoilld advise you to keep a more civil tongue in your head if you intend to speak with the general. He ie not a man to stand any nonsense." 3 2 "Right you are. He was always a hard no 1 orack. But isn't this him coming down 'the avenue?" 3 ; rei his présence as by. no ujmited blessing, ¥ eo "Why, corporal," he said, as the: wung open, 'I have often won 1} ther you were 'dead or alive, but how: them how to oross a | OX to. see. you' "again, How, you been: all" these long years?" - "How have 1 "been?" you. - gE rp "You'll Ws 'talking § Jrivaie Sor oy West," ge 1 sald, looking round 'at me, for I was beginning move away. "ty . and may find f entirely in the ri hire Hutus Buith. looked pound 7 us Sm 00. round at me in blank astonishment. "In the win as he said. "However did he get "Voluntarily, voluntarily," the gencral explained, hurriedly sinking his voice. 'He is a holg of mine, and he has volun- Rered his help in case I should ever This, explanation seemed, 1f anything, | to increase the big stranger's surprise. "Well, 'it "that don't ive OR fight gl" he exclaimed, contemplating me with ads miration. . "1 never heard tell of such a "And now that you Have found me, Cor joral Smith "sald the temant of Clooms On Dat is ah that you want of me?" asplug. the ironwork and. paring Al king | TI . We are not deep | noth! " Bogus Spahr AT heed "Nothing," "Well, ail I ked through the gate and gaw that|more nerve and pl the general, ving | haye. "1 ndeed nus or been and: this popular millionaire still] weeks olc remains a bachelor, : In fact, the|to twi fair 'sex haye come 'to class .{ Thomas and' Lord Kitchener i. sition of a mil 'enemies. He i8 imp member of nearly one hundred in - H they America. He follows &; : y coarse. for 'th ives him. *I| : : to make my. first bet,' he on one occasions 'I race pure: | ly for pleasure of the sport, and I would not bet on my own boat or |. on any other.' 'Helping Some. And Bam, do you do anything] toward helping to get the where- withal to support: the family?' "Deed T'do boss; why, only las' | | week I went down n' ordered wabhin' machine for m' wife." ------ ~ 8 Ln > "Don't you take opium, or brandy, or| | asked Corporal] AR A A RRA op hi