e 'eart. 'E and the missus would be
like two babes left out in a bundle. I'm just everything. And then 'e
goes and gives me notice."

"Why would no one stay?" I asked.

"Well, they wouldn't make allowances, same as I do. 'E's a very clever
man, the master--so clever that 'e's clean balmy sometimes. I've seen
'im right off 'is onion, and no error. Well, look what 'e did this
morning."

"What did he do?"

Austin bent over to me.

"'E bit the 'ousekeeper," said he in a hoarse whisper.

"Bit her?"

"Yes, sir. Bit 'er on the leg. I saw 'er with my own eyes startin' a
marathon from the 'all-door."

"Good gracious!"

"So you'd say, sir, if you could see some of the goings on. 'E don't
make friends with the neighbors. There's some of them thinks that when
'e was up among those monsters you wrote about, it was just ''Ome, Sweet
'Ome' for the master, and 'e was never in fitter company. That's what
_they_ say. But I've served 'im ten years, and I'm fond of 'im, and,
mind you, 'e's a great man, when all's said an' done, and it's an honor
to serve 'im. But 'e does try one cruel at times. Now look at that,
sir. That ain't what you might call old-fashioned 'ospitality, is it
now? Just you read it for yourself."

The car on its lowest speed had ground its way up a steep, curving
ascent. At the corner a notice-board peered over a well-clipped hedge.
As Austin said, it was not difficult to read, for the words were few and
arresting:--

+---------------------------------------+
| WARNING. |
| ---- |
| Visitors, Pressmen, and Mendicants |
| are not encouraged. |
| |
| G. E. CHALLENGER. |
+---------------------------------------+

"No, it's not what you might call 'earty," said Austin, shaking his head
and glancing up at the deplorable placard. "It wouldn't look well in a
Christmas card. I beg your pardon, sir, for I haven't spoke as much as
this for many a long year, but to-day my feelings seem to 'ave got the
better of me. 'E can sack me till 'e's blue in the face, but I ain't
going, and that's flat. I'm 'is man and 'e's my master, and so it will
be, I expect, to the end of the chapter."

We had passed between the white posts