I groaned aloud.

"Mr. Glenarm preferred this room for working. The

tools were his very own, sir."

"The devil they were!" I exclaimed irascibly. I

snatched a book from the nearest shelf and threw it

open on the table. It was The Tower: Its Early Use

for Purposes of Defense. London: 1816.

I closed it with a slam.

"The sleeping-room is beyond, sir. I hope-"

"Don't you hope any more!" I growled; "and it

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doesn't make any difference whether I'm disappointed

or not."

"Certainly not, sir!" he replied in a tone that made

me ashamed of myself.

The adjoining bedroom was small and meagerly furnished.

The walls were untinted and were relieved only

by prints of English cathedrals, French chateaux, and

like suggestions of the best things known to architecture.

The bed was the commonest iron type; and the

other articles of furniture were chosen with a strict regard

for utility. My trunks and bags had been carried

in, and Bates asked from the door f or my commands.

"Mr. Glenarm always breakfasted at seven-thirty, sir,

as near as he could hit it without a timepiece, and he

was quite punctual. His ways were a little odd, sir. He

used to prowl about at night a good deal, and there was

no following him."

"I fancy I shan't do much prowling," I declared.

"And my grandfather's breakfast hour will suit me exactly,

Bates."

"If there's nothing further, sir-"

"That's all;-and Bates-"

"Yes, Mr. Glenarm."

"Of course you understand that I didn't really mean

to imply that you had fired that shot at me?"

"I beg you not to mention it, Mr. Glenarm."

"But it was a little queer. If you should gain any

light on the subject, let me know."

"Certainly, sir."

"But I believe, Bates, that we'd better keep the shades

down at night. These duck hunters hereabouts are apparently

reckless. And you might attend to these now,

-and every evening hereafter."

I wound my watch as he obeyed. I admit that in my

heart I still half-suspected the fellow of complicity with

the person who had fired at me through the dining-room

window. 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 not subject to the usual laws governing orderly

housekeeping. Bates was evidently aware of my suspicions,

and he remarked, drawing down the last of the

plain green shades: "Mr. Glenarm never drew them, sir. It was a saying

of his, if I may repeat his words, that he liked the open.

These are eastern windows, and he took a quiet pleasure

in letting the light waken him. It was one of his oddities,

sir."

"To be sure. That's all, Bates."

He gravely bade me good night, and I followed him

to the outer door and watched his departing figure,

lighted by a single candle that he had produced from

his pocket.




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