est in this man. We both follow him out into the yard to
see what he will do with the horses. The manner in which he lifts the
injured leg of the lame horse tells me at once that he understands his
business. Quickly and quietly, he leads the animal into an empty stable;
quickly and quietly, he gets a bucket of hot water, and puts the lame
horse's leg into it. "The warm water will reduce the swelling, sir. I will
bandage the leg afterwards." All that he does is done intelligently; all
that he says, he says to the purpose.

Nothing wild, nothing strange about him now. Is this the same man whom we
heard talking in his sleep?--the same man who woke with that cry of terror
and that horrid suspicion in his eyes? I determine to try him with one or
two questions.

III

"Not much to do here," I say to the hostler.

"Very little to do, sir," the hostler replies.

"Anybody staying in the house?"

"The house is quite empty, sir."

"I thought you were all dead. I could make nobody hear me."

"The landlord is very deaf, sir, and the waiter is out on an errand."

"Yes; and _you_ were fast asleep in the stable. Do you often take a nap in
the daytime?"

The worn face of the hostler faintly flushes. His eyes look away from my
eyes for the first time. Mrs. Fairbank furtively pinches my arm. Are we on
the eve of a discovery at last? I repeat my question. The man has no civil
alternative but to give me an answer. The answer is given in these words:

"I was tired out, sir. You wouldn't have found me asleep in the daytime
but for that."

"Tired out, eh? You had been hard at work, I suppose?"

"No, sir."

"What was it, then?"

He hesitates again, and answers unwillingly, "I was up all night."

"Up all night? Anything going on in the town?"

"Nothing going on, sir."

"Anybody ill?"

"Nobody ill, sir."

That reply is the last. Try as I may, I can extract nothing more from him.
He turns away and busies himself in attending to the horse's leg. I leave
the stable to speak to the landlord about the carriage which is to take us
back to Farleigh Hall. Mrs. Fairbank remains with the hostler, and favors
me with a look at parting. The look says plainly, "_I_ mean to find out
why he was up all night. Leave him to Me."

The ordering of the carriage is easily accomplished. The inn possesses one
horse and one chaise. The landlord has a story to tell of the horse, and a
story to tell of the chaise. They resemble the story of Franc