Bates brought a great log and rolled it upon exactly
the right spot on the andirons, and a great constellation
of sparks thronged up the chimney. The old relic of a
house-I called the establishment by many names, but
this was, I think, my favorite-could be heated in all
its habitable parts, as Bates had demonstrated. The
halls were of glacial temperature these cold days, but
my room above, the dining-room and the great library
were comfortable enough. I threw down a book and
knocked the ashes from my pipe.
"Bates!"
"Yes, sir."
"I think my spiritual welfare is in jeopardy. I need
counsel,-a spiritual adviser."
"I'm afraid that's beyond me, sir."
"I'd like to invite Mr. Stoddard to dinner so I may
discuss my soul's health with him at leisure."
"Certainly, Mr. Glenarm."
"But it occurs to me that probably the terms of Mr.
Glenarm's will point to my complete sequestration here.
In other words, I may forfeit my rights by asking a
guest to dinner."
He pondered the matter for a moment, then replied: "I should think, sir,-as you ask my opinion,-that
in the case of a gentleman in holy orders there would
be no impropriety. Mr. Stoddard is a fine gentleman;
I heard your late grandfather speak of him very
highly."
"That, I imagine, is hardly conclusive in the matter.
There is the executor-"
"To be sure; I hadn't considered him."
"Well, you'd better consider him. He's the court of
last resort, isn't he?"
"Well, of course, that's one way of looking at it,
sir.
"I suppose there's no chance of Mr. Pickering's dropping
in on us now and then."
He gazed at me steadily, unblinkingly and with entire
respect.
"He's a good deal of a traveler, Mr. Pickering is. He
passed through only this morning, so the mail-boy told
me. You may have met him at the station."
"Oh, yes; to be sure; so I did I" I replied. I was not
as good a liar as Bates; and there was nothing to be
gained by denying that I had met the executor in the
village. "I had a very pleasant talk with him. He was
on the way to California with several friends."
"That is quite his way, I understand,-private cars
and long journeys about the country. A very successful
man is Mr. Pickering. Your grandfather had great
confidence in him, did Mr. Glenarm."
"Ah, yes! A fine judge of character my grandfather
was! I guess John Marshall Glenarm could spot a rascal
about as far as any man in his day."
I felt like letting myself go before this masked scoundrel.
The density of his mask was an increasing wonder
to me. Bates was the most incomprehensible human
being I had ever known. I had been torn with a
thousand conflicting emotions since I overheard him discussing
the state of affairs at Glenarm House with
Pickering in the chapel porch; and Pickering's acquaintance
with the girl in gray brought new elements
into the affair that added to my uneasiness. But here
was a treasonable dog on whom the stress of conspiracy
had no outward effect whatever.