affair or not, when I heard in the distance
the sound of the surgeon's returning footfall. At that I drew myself up
quickly by the iron bars and glanced in through the diamond-paned window.
The interior of the cottage was lighted up by a lurid glow, coming from
what I afterward discovered to be a chemical furnace. By its rich light
I could distinguish a great litter of retorts, test tubes and condensers,
which sparkled over the table, and threw strange, grotesque shadows on
the wall. On the further side of the room was a wooden framework
resembling a hencoop, and in this, still absorbed in prayer, knelt the
man whose voice I heard. The red glow beating upon his upturned face
made it stand out from the shadow like a painting from Rembrandt, showing
up every wrinkle upon the parchment-like skin. I had but time for a
fleeting glance; then, dropping from the window, I made off through the
rocks and the heather, nor slackened my pace until I found myself back in
my cabin once more. There I threw myself upon my couch, more disturbed
and shaken than I had ever thought to feel again.

Such doubts as I might have had as to whether I had indeed seen my former
fellow-lodger upon the night of the thunderstorm were resolved the next
morning. Strolling along down the path which led to the fell, I saw in
one spot where the ground was soft the impressions of a foot--the small,
dainty foot of a well-booted woman. That tiny heel and high instep could
have belonged to none other than my companion of Kirkby-Malhouse. I
followed her trail for some distance, till it still pointed, as far as I
could discern it, to the lonely and ill-omened cottage. What power could
there be to draw this tender girl, through wind and rain and darkness,
across the fearsome moors to that strange rendezvous?

I have said that a little beck flowed down the valley and past my very
door. A week or so after the doings which I have described, I was seated
by my window when I perceived something white drifting slowly down the
stream. My first thought was that it was a drowning sheep; but picking
up my stick, I strolled to the bank and hooked it ashore. On examination
it proved to be a large sheet, torn and tattered, with the initials J. C.
in the corner. What gave it its sinister significance, however, was that
from hem to hem it was all dabbled and discoloured.

Shutting the door of my cabin, I set off up the glen in the direction of
the surgeon's cabin