and I was also tremendously sorry for him. You could see he was as
restless as a hen.

When we went back to the hall he announced that he must get
on the road, and commandeered Miss Lamington to help him find
his bicycle. It appeared he was staying at an inn a dozen miles off
for a couple of days' fishing, and the news somehow made me like
him better. Presently the ladies of the house departed to bed for
their beauty sleep and I was left to my own devices.

For some time I sat smoking in the hall wondering when the
messenger would arrive. It was getting late and there seemed to be
no preparation in the house to receive anybody. The butler came in
with a tray of drinks and I asked him if he expected another guest
that night.

'I 'adn't 'eard of it, sir,' was his answer. 'There 'asn't
been a telegram that I know of, and I 'ave received no instructions.'

I lit my pipe and sat for twenty minutes reading a weekly paper.
Then I got up and looked at the family portraits. The moon
coming through the lattice invited me out-of-doors as a cure for my
anxiety. It was after eleven o'clock, and I was still without any
knowledge of my next step. It is a maddening business to be
screwed up for an unpleasant job and to have the wheels of the
confounded thing tarry.

Outside the house beyond a flagged terrace the lawn fell away,
white in the moonshine, to the edge of the stream, which here had
expanded into a miniature lake. By the water's edge was a little