"I see you have _not_ heard," she replied. "Sit down, Willie, and
prepare yourself for painful news. But first tell me what you meant by
saying what you did just now,--who was it that ran away from you?"

"Well, perhaps I should hardly call it running away, but he certainly
disappeared most mysteriously, down here near the corner of Yonge and
Crookshank Streets."

"Of whom are you speaking?"

"Of Uncle Richard, of course."

"Uncle Richard! The corner of Yonge and Crookshank Streets! When did
you see him there?"

"When? A quarter of an hour ago. He met me at the station and we walked
up together till I met Johnny Gray. I turned to speak to Johnny for a
moment, when--"

"Willie, what on earth are you talking about? You are labouring under
some strange delusion. _Uncle Richard died of apoplexy more than six
weeks ago, and lies buried in St. James's Cemetery_."




II.