for a
handkerchief, failed to find one, and rubbed his hands together to get
the liquor off his fingers.

"You startled me," he said, in a matter-of-fact tone, turning his eyes
upon me, as he lifted his glass again, and emptied it. "How did you
find your way in?"

"By the front door," said I, wondering at his unconcern.

He nodded his head slowly.

"Ah! yes; I forgot to lock it. You came to steal, I suppose?"

"I came because I lost my way. I've been travelling this God-forsaken
moor since dusk--"

"With your boots in your hand," he put in quietly.

"I took them off out of respect to the yellow dog you keep."

"He lies in a very natural attitude--eh?"

"You don't tell me he was _stuffed_!"

The old man's eyes beamed a contemptuous pity.

"You are indifferently sharp, my dear sir, for a housebreaker. Come
in. Set down those convicting boots, and don't drip pools of water
in the very doorway, of all places. If I must entertain a burglar, I
prefer him tidy."

He walked to the fire, picked up a poker, and knocked the coals into
a blaze. This done, he turned round on me with the poker still in his
hand. The serenest gravity sat on his large, pale features.

"Why have I done this?" he asked.

"I suppose to get possession of the poker."

"Quite right. May I inquire your next move?"

"Why," said I, feeling in my tail pocket, "I carry a pistol."

"Which I suppose to be damp?"

"By no means. I carry it, as you see, in an oil-cloth case."

He stopped, and laid the poker carefully in the fender.

"That is a stronger card than I possess. I might urge that by pulling
the trigger you would certainly alarm the house and the neighborhood,
and put a halter round your neck. I say, I _might_ urge this, and
assume you to be an intelligent auditor. But it strikes me as safer to
assume you capable of using a pistol with effect at three paces. With
what might happen subsequently I will not pretend to be concerned. It
is sufficient that I dislike the notion of being perforated. The fate
of your neck--" He waved a hand. "Well, I have known you for just
five minutes, and feel but moderate interest in your neck. As for
the inmates of this house, it will refresh you to hear that there are
none. I have lived here two years with a butler and a female cook,
both of whom I dismissed yesterday at a moment's notice for conduct
which I will not shock your ears by explicitly naming. Suffice it to
say, I carried them off yesterday