g this statement I have purposely couched it in bald and simple
language, for fear I should be accused of colouring my narrative for the
sake of effect. If, however, I have told my story with any approach to
realism, the reader will understand me when I say that by this time
the succession of dramatic incidents which had occurred had arrested
my attention and excited my imagination to the exclusion of all minor
topics.

How could I plod through the dull routine of an agent's work, or
interest myself in the thatch of this tenant's bothy or the sails of
that one's boat, when my mind was taken up by the chain of events which
I have described, and was still busy seeking an explanation for them.

Go where I would over the countryside, I could see the square, white
tower shooting out from among the trees, and beneath that tower this
ill-fated family were watching and waiting, waiting and watching--and
for what? That was still the question which stood like an impassable
barrier at the end of every train of thought.

Regarded merely as an abstract problem, this mystery of the Heatherstone
family had a lurid fascination about it, but when the woman whom I
loved a thousandfold better than I did myself proved to be so deeply
interested in the solution, I felt that it was impossible to turn my
thoughts to anything else until it had been finally cleared up.

My good father had received a letter from the laird, dated from Naples,
which told us that he had derived much benefit from the change, and that
he had no intention of returning to Scotland for some time. This was
satisfactory to all of us, for my father had found Branksome such an
excellent place for study that it would have been a sore trial to him
to return to the noise and tumult of a city. As to my dear sister and
myself, there were, as I have shown, stronger reasons still to make us
love the Wigtownshire moors.

In spite of my interview with the general--or perhaps I might say on
account of it--I took occasion at least twice a day to walk towards
Cloomber and satisfy myself that all was well there. He had begun by
resenting my intrusion, but he had ended by taking me into a sort of
half-confidence, and even by asking my assistance, so I felt that I
stood upon a different footing with him than I had done formerly, and
that he was less likely to be annoyed by my presence. Indeed, I met him
pacing round the inclosure a few days afterwards, and his manner towards
me was c