ders teach them to
respect nobody, and the weakening hold of religion as also revealed in
the proletariat. Now, to combat these things and set a good example is
our duty--nay, our privilege. Don't you think so?"

Such a lecture on an empty stomach depressed the colonel. He looked
uneasy and anxious.

"I'll come, of course, if he'd like it; but I'm afraid I shared my men's
dread of church parade, though our padre was a merciful being on the
whole and fairly sensible."

Overhead, Henry had tried the door of the Grey Room, and found it
locked. As he did so, the gong sounded for breakfast. Masters always
performed upon it. First he woke a preliminary whisper of the great
bronze disc, then deepened the note to a genial and mellow roar, and
finally calmed it down again until it faded gently into silence. He
spoke of the gong as a musical instrument, and declared the art of
sounding it was a gift that few men could acquire.

Neither movement nor response rewarded the summons of Lennox, and now in
genuine alarm, he went below again, stopped Fred Caunter, the footman,
and asked him to call out Sir Walter.

Fred waited until his master had said a brief grace before meat; then he
stepped to his side and explained, that his nephew desired to see him.

"Good patience! What's the matter?" asked the old man as he rose and
joined Henry in the hall.

Then his nephew spoke, and indicated his alarm. He stammered a little,
but strove to keep calm and state facts clearly.

"It's like this. I'm afraid you'll be rather savage, but I can't talk
now. Tom and I had a yarn when you'd gone to bed, and he was awfully
keen to spend the night in the Grey Room."

"I did not wish it."

"I know--we were wrong--but we were both death on it, and we tossed up,
and he won."

"Where is he?"

"Up there now, looking out of the window. I've called him and made a row
at the door, but he doesn't answer. He's locked himself in, apparently."

"What have you done, Henry? We must get to him instantly. Tell
Caunter--no, I will. Don't breathe a syllable of this to anybody unless
necessity arises. Don't tell Mary."

Sir Walter beckoned the footman, bade him get some tools and ascend
quickly to the Grey Room. He then went up beside his nephew, while Fred,
bristling with excitement, hastened to the toolroom. He was a handy man,
had been at sea during the war, and now returned to his old employment.
His slow brain moved backwards, and he remembered that t