ottle stood face to
face with two persons, a woman in advance, and a man behind her, leaning
back flat against the wall.

"Wish you good evening, sir," says the woman, in such a sudden way, and
in such a cracked voice, that it was quite startling to hear her. "Chilly
weather, ain't it, sir? Please to walk in. You come from good Mr.
Forley, don't you, sir?"

"Don't you, sir?" chimes in the man hoarsely, making a sort of gruff echo
of himself, and chuckling after it, as if he thought he had made a joke.

If Trottle had said, "No," the door would have been probably closed in
his face. Therefore, he took circumstances as he found them, and boldly
ran all the risk, whatever it might be, of saying, "Yes."

"Quite right sir," says the woman. "Good Mr. Forley's letter told us his
particular friend would be here to represent him, at dusk, on Monday the
thirteenth--or, if not on Monday the thirteenth, then on Monday the
twentieth, at the same time, without fail. And here you are on Monday
the thirteenth, ain't you, sir? Mr. Forley's particular friend, and
dressed all in black--quite right, sir! Please to step into the dining-
room--it's always kep scoured and clean against Mr. Forley comes here--and
I'll fetch a candle in half a minute. It gets so dark in the evenings,
now, you hardly know where you are, do you, sir? And how is good Mr.
Forley in his health? We trust he is better, Benjamin, don't we? We are
so sorry not to see him as usual, Benjamin, ain't we? In half a minute,
sir, if you don't mind waiting, I'll be back with the candle. Come
along, Benjamin."

"Come along, Benjamin," chimes in the echo, and chuckles again as if he
thought he had made another joke.

Left alone in the empty front-parlour, Trottle wondered what was coming
next, as he heard the shuffling, scraping footsteps go slowly down the
kitchen-stairs. The front-door had been carefully chained up and bolted
behind him on his entrance; and there was not the least chance of his
being able to open it to effect his escape, without betraying himself by
making a noise.

Not being of the Jarber sort, luckily for himself, he took his situation
quietly, as he found it, and turned his time, while alone, to account, by
summing up in his own mind the few particulars which he had discovered
thus far. He had found out, first, that Mr. Forley was in the habit of
visiting the house regularly. Second, that Mr. Forley being prevented by
illness from se