a warning glance; she lowered her eyes, and going across to the range,
began to stir the contents of something in a saucepan.

That afternoon I borrowed some lines from Bindloss, and, taking an old
boat which was moored to the bank of the mill-pond, set off under the
pretence of fishing for pike. The weather was perfect for the time of
year.

Waiting my opportunity, I brought the boat up to land on the bank that
dammed up the stream, and getting out walked along it in the direction
of the mill-wheel, over which the water was now rushing.

As I observed it from this side of the bank, I saw that the tower in
which my room was placed must at one time have been part of the mill
itself, and I further noticed that the masonry was comparatively new,
showing that alterations must have taken place when the house was
abandoned as a mill and was turned into an inn. I clambered down the
side of the wheel, holding on to the beams, which were green and
slippery, and peered through the paddles.

As I was making my examination, a voice suddenly startled me.

"What are you doing down there?"

I looked up; old Bindloss was standing on the bank looking down at me.
He was alone, and his face was contorted with a queer mixture of fear
and passion. I hastily hoisted myself up, and stood beside him.

"What are you poking about down there for?" he said, pushing his ugly
old face into mine as he spoke. "You fool! if you had fallen you would
have been drowned. No one could swim a stroke in that mill-race. And
then there would have been another death, and all the old fuss over
again! Look here, sir, will you have the goodness to get out of the
place? I don't want you here any more."

"I intend to leave to-morrow morning," I answered in a pacifying voice,
"and I am really very much obliged to you for warning me about the
mill."

"You had best not go near it again," he said in a menacing voice, and
then he turned hastily away. I watched him as he climbed up a steep bank
and disappeared from view. He was going in the opposite direction from
the house. Seizing the opportunity of his absence, I once more
approached the mill. Was it possible that Wentworth had been hurled into
it? But had this been the case there would have been signs and marks on
the body. Having reached the wheel, I clambered boldly down. It was now
getting dusk, but I could see that a prolongation of the axle entered
the wall of the tower. The fittings were also in wonderf