Miss Guir," he replied, looking into her earnest eyes, and wondering
if she ordinarily dined alone.

"Nevertheless, we will in an hour," she answered, "and I shall expect
you to have an excellent appetite after our long drive."

Paul wanted to ask about the members of her family, but thought it
wisest to say nothing for the present. Surely they would appear in
due season, for it was impossible the girl could live alone in so
large a house, and without natural protection; and so he simply made
a further allusion to the apparent age and great picturesqueness of
the building.

"Yes," said Dorothy, again gazing into the fire, "it is old--considerably
more than a hundred years. It was built in the Colonial days, when things
were rougher and good work more difficult to obtain."

"But surely these portraits and historical scenes were the work of an
artist," Henley ventured to observe, looking at a strange head of
Medusa.

"Yes," she answered, "the one you are looking at was done by Ah Ben."

He had been led to believe that Ah Ben was a living member of the
household, who would shortly appear, but this now seemed impossible,
for these extraordinary pictures were as old as the house itself.
What did the girl mean? Had this Ah Ben done them all? Should he ask
her and expose his ignorance? Paul thought he would venture upon a
compromise.