Gun-racks lined the walls, and dressers laden
with valuable china, and these were seasonably adorned with sprigs of
holly, ivy, and fir. A kissing-bush, even, hung from the bacon-rack
that crossed the ceiling, with many hams wrapped in bracken, a brace
of pheasants, and a 'neck' of harvest corn elaborately plaited: and
almost directly beneath it stood a circular table with a lamp and a
set of dominoes, the half of them laid out in an unfinished game.
The floor was of slate but strewn with rugs, some of rag-work others
of badgers' skins. A tall clock ticked sedately in a corner. On one
side of the chimney a weather-glass depended, on the other a
warming-pan--symbols, as it were, of conjugal interests, male and
female, drawing together by the hearth.

Doctor Unonius felt an unwonted glow at the sight of this interior.
He could not but admire, too, the widow's self-possession.
Instead of trembling and demanding explanations she suggested that a
glass of hot brandy and water would do him no possible harm after his
drive, and stepped to the corner cupboard without waiting for an
answer. It was a piece of furniture of some value, lacquered over
with Chinese figures in dusky gold. But the doctor's gaze travelled
rather to the gun-racks. He counted a dozen firearms, antique but
serviceable, and suggested that, with powder and shot, Landeweddy was
capable of standing a pretty stiff siege.

'I keep but two of them loaded,' said the widow, and indicated them--
a large blunderbuss and a fowling-piece with an immensely long
barrel; 'but there's powder and three sizes of shot in the right-hand
drawer, there, below the dresser. You can charge the others, if
you've a mind.'

'My warning would hardly seem to have impressed you, madam.'

'Oh yes, it has,' answered Mrs Tresize, measuring out the brandy.
'But you see, doctor, one gets accustomed to fears, living in this
lonely place; and with a man as protector one feels as safe as with a
regiment.'

'You flatter my ability, I fear,' said the doctor. 'I will do my
best, of course: but I ought to warn you that I am no expert with
firearms.'

'I can help you with the loading,' said Mrs Tresize. 'But tell me
the worst of the danger, please.'

Doctor Unonius set the bag on the table, and unloaded its contents
one by one while he told his story. The sight of the money-bags did
not produce quite the thrill he had looked for, but she evinced a
lively interest in the paper pi