n after ten; for Val had to
drive somewhere in the afternoon, and it was as well to give Tim a rest
before starting out again. This I explained to Father Vansome.

"I wonder whether you could give me a lift," was his remark. "I should
very much like to consult Father Fleming upon a certain matter, and if
you could take me, it would avoid a fuss here. I shall enjoy the tramp
back again."

Of course I was delighted to give him a lift. So we set off in due time
with Willy on the back seat. I had been rejoicing in the prospect of an
agreeable drive with a pleasant companion, for I had been greatly
attracted by the young monk; but I was doomed to disappointment. My
constant efforts at conversation fell flat; for the priest seemed
preoccupied, and his responses were evidently merely mechanical.

Father Vansome was closeted with Val up to lunch time. He sat down to
table with us, and after the meal he and Val drove off together in the
trap; they had arranged that Father Vansome should get down at a point
where their roads diverged. I was rather astonished to learn, when I
took leave of him, that he hoped to return that same evening, as he had a
particular reason for wishing to say Mass next day.

Left to myself, I turned my steps in the direction of Archie's former
dwelling at the old mill; for I hoped to light upon some evidence which
would clear up to my own satisfaction at least the apparent mystery of
Aleck Farquhar's ghost story. Although I could not account by any
natural means for the event which had startled me at Ardmuir House, I was
nevertheless still sceptical with regard to the supposed apparition at
the mill-house. Indeed, I felt more certain than ever that a living
person had been playing pranks in the latter case, to serve some purpose
of his own; the impossibility of fraud in my regard contrasted strongly
with its probability at the old mill.

I was not deceived in my expectation. I found that the boards that
usually covered the window opening had been carefully removed, and were
standing in a corner awaiting replacement, probably. Here was a sign
that the midnight visitor had been surprised, and had not dared to wait
to cover up the window again--unless, indeed, it meant that another
"apparition" was intended. But a more close investigation convinced me
of trickery. Flung away into a corner was a small brush bearing traces
of luminous paint, and in a heap of rubbish I discerned the very lid o