well see the house, anyhow,' said I dejectedly. So we
started to walk up the coombe. The path, which ran beside a little
chattering stream, was narrow for the most part, and Farmer Hosking,
with an apology, strode on ahead to beat aside the brambles.
But whenever its width allowed us to walk side by side I caught him from
time to time stealing a shy inquisitive glance under his rough eyebrows.
Courteously though he bore himself, it was clear that he could not sum
me up to his satisfaction or bring me square with his notion of a tenant
for his 'secluded country residence.'

"I don't know what foolish fancy prompted it, but about halfway up the
coombe I stopped short and asked:

"'There are no ghosts, I suppose?'

"It struck me, a moment after I had uttered it, as a supremely silly
question; but he took it quite seriously. 'No; I never heard tell of
any _ghosts_.' He laid a queer sort of stress on the word. 'There's
always been trouble with servants, and maids' tongues will be runnin'.
But Mary Carkeek lives up there alone, and she seems comfortable
enough.'

"We walked on. By-and-by he pointed with his stick. 'It don't look
like a place for ghosts, now, do it?'

"Certainly it did not. Above an untrimmed orchard rose a terrace of
turf scattered with thorn-bushes, and above this a terrace of stone,
upon which stood the prettiest cottage I had ever seen. It was long and
low and thatched; a deep verandah ran from end to end. Clematis,
Banksia roses and honeysuckle climbed the posts of this verandah, and
big blooms of the Marechal Niel were clustered along its roof, beneath
the lattices of the bedroom windows. The house was small enough to be
called a cottage, and rare enough in features and in situation to confer
distinction on any tenant. It suggested what in those days we should
have called 'elegant' living. And I could have clapped my hands for
joy.

"My spirits mounted still higher when Mrs. Carkeek opened the door to
us. I had looked for a Mrs. Gummidge, and I found a healthy
middle-aged woman with a thoughtful but contented face, and a smile
which, without a trace of obsequiousness, quite bore out the farmer's
description of her. She was a comfortable woman; and while we walked
through the rooms together (for Mr. Hosking waited outside) I 'took to'
Mrs. Carkeek. Her speech was direct and practical; the rooms, in spite
of their faded furniture, were bright and exquisitely clean; and somehow
the