There was a tone of resentment in his voice, and I

hastened to say: "I'm sure you're mistaken about the purposes of that

wall. My grandfather was a student of architecture. It

was a hobby of his. 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 any hard feelings

against his memory or against me. Why, the labor there

must have been a good thing for the people hereabouts."

"It ought to have been," said the man gruffly; "but

that's where the trouble comes in. He brought a lot of

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queer fellows here under contract to work for him,

Italians, or Greeks, or some sort of foreigners. They

built the wall, and he had them at work inside for half

a year. He didn't even let them out for air; and when

they finished his job he loaded 'em on to a train one

day and hauled 'em away."

"That was quite like him, I'm sure," I said, remembering

with amusement my grandfather's secretive

ways.

"I guess he was a crank all right," said the man conclusively.

It was evident that he did not care to establish friendly

relations with the resident of Glenarm. He was about

forty, light, with a yellow beard and pale blue eyes. He

was dressed roughly and wore a shabby soft hat.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to assume responsibility

for him and his acts," I remarked, piqued by the fellow's

surliness.

We had reached the center of the village, and he left

me abruptly, crossing the street to one of the shops. I

continued on to the railway station, where I wrote and

paid for my message. The station-master inspected me

carefully as I searched my pockets for change.

"You want your telegrams delivered at the house?"

he asked.

"Yes, please," I answered, and he turned away to

his desk of clicking instruments without looking at me

again.

It seemed wise to establish relations with the post-office,

so I made myself known to the girl who stood at

the delivery window.

"You already have a box," she advised me. "There's

a boy carries the mail to your house; Mr. Bates hires

him."

Bates had himself given me this information, but the

girl seemed to find pleasure in imparting it with a certain

severity. I then bought a cake of soap at the principal

drug store and purchased a package of smoking-tobacco,

which I did not need, at a grocery.

News of my arrival had evidently reached the villagers;

I was conceited enough to imagine that my presence

was probably of interest to them; but the station-master,

the girl at the post-office and the clerks in the

shops treated me with an unmistakable cold reserve.

There was a certain evenness of the chill which they

visited upon me, as though a particular degree of frigidity

had been determined in advance.




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