going to fight almighty hard against letting him hold it longer."

"Why?"

"Why? Why, because I don't believe in murder. A year ago he came
to me the healthiest and happiest man I ever saw; today he is a
shadow. I watched that boy go down. Understand, I don't believe a
damn word I'm saying; but I have seen it. It's that cursed house.
I say no, when I reason; but it keeps on my nerves; it's on my
conscience. It is insidious. Every month when he came here I could
see disintegration. It's pitiful to see a young man stripped of
life like that; forlorn, hopeless, gone. He has never told me what
it is; but I have wondered. A battle; some conflict with--there I
go again. It's on my nerves, I tell you, on my nerves. If this
keeps up I'll burn it."

It was a bit foreboding. Already I could feel the tugging at my
heart that had done for Watson. This man had watched my friend
slipping into the shadow; I had come to take his place.

"Watson has gone," I said simply; "and that's why I am here."

He straightened up.

"You know him then. He was not--"

"He went last night; he has left the country. He was in very poor
health. That's why I am here. I know very well the cloud that
hangs over the property; it is my sole reason for purchasing."