ing awake till at least two; but I was very tired, and the excessive
cold had made me extremely sleepy; consequently, despite my heroic
efforts, I gradually dozed off, and knew no more till it was broad
daylight and the butler entered my room with a cup of tea. When I came
down to breakfast I found everyone in the best of spirits. The Onslows
are "great hands" at original entertainments, and the announcement that
there would be a masked ball that evening was received with tremendous
enthusiasm.

"To-night we dance, to-morrow we feed on Easter eggs and fancy cakes,"
one of the guests laughingly whispered. "What a nicely ordered
programme! I hear, too, we are to have a real old-fashioned Easter
Day--heaving and lifting, and stool-ball. Egad! The Colonel deserves
knighthood!"

Soon after breakfast there was a general stampede to Seeton and
Dinstable to buy gifts; for in that respect again the Onslows stuck to
old customs, and there was a general interchange of presents on Easter
morning. My purchases made, I joined one or two of the house-party at
lunch in Seeton, cycled back alone to Eastover in time for tea; and, at
five o'clock, commenced my first explorations of the grounds. The sky
having become clouded my progress was somewhat slow. I did the Park
first, and I had not gone very far before I detected the same presence I
had so acutely felt the previous afternoon. Like the scent of a wild
beast, it had a certain defined track which I followed astutely,
eventually coming to a full stop in front of a wall of rock. I then
perceived by the aid of a few fitful rays of suppressed light, which at
intervals struggled successfully through a black bank of clouds, the
yawning mouth of a big cavern, from the roof of which hung innumerable
stalactites. I now suddenly realized that I was in a very lonely,
isolated spot, and became immeasurably perturbed. The Unknown Something
in the atmosphere which had inspired me with so much fear was here
conglomerated--it was no longer the mere essence--it was the whole
Thing. The whole Thing, but what was that Thing? A hideous fascination
made me keep my gaze riveted on the gaping hole opposite me. At first I
could make out nothing--nothing but jagged walls and roof, and empty
darkness; then there suddenly appeared in the very innermost recesses of
the cave a faint glow of crimson light which grew and grew, until with
startling abruptness it resolved itself into two huge eyes, red and
menacin