ne up, so as to be suitable for the bride. The basement
is very strong,--almost as strong and as heavy as if it had been intended
as a fortress. There are a whole series of rooms deep underground. One
of them in particular struck me. The room itself is of considerable
size, but the masonry is more than massive. In the middle of the room is
a sunk well, built up to floor level and evidently going deep
underground. There is no windlass nor any trace of there ever having
been any--no rope--nothing. Now, we know that the Romans had wells of
immense depth, from which the water was lifted by the 'old rag rope';
that at Woodhull used to be nearly a thousand feet. Here, then, we have
simply an enormously deep well-hole. The door of the room was massive,
and was fastened with a lock nearly a foot square. It was evidently
intended for some kind of protection to someone or something; but no one
in those days had ever heard of anyone having been allowed even to see
the room. All this is _a propos_ of a suggestion on my part that the
well-hole was a way by which the White Worm (whatever it was) went and
came. At that time I would have had a search made--even excavation if
necessary--at my own expense, but all suggestions were met with a prompt
and explicit negative. So, of course, I took no further step in the
matter. Then it died out of recollection--even of mine."

"Do you remember, sir," asked Adam, "what was the appearance of the room
where the well-hole was? Was there furniture--in fact, any sort of thing
in the room?"

"The only thing I remember was a sort of green light--very clouded, very
dim--which came up from the well. Not a fixed light, but intermittent
and irregular--quite unlike anything I had ever seen."

"Do you remember how you got into the well-room? Was there a separate
door from outside, or was there any interior room or passage which opened
into it?"

"I think there must have been some room with a way into it. I remember
going up some steep steps; they must have been worn smooth by long use or
something of the kind, for I could hardly keep my feet as I went up. Once
I stumbled and nearly fell into the well-hole."

"Was there anything strange about the place--any queer smell, for
instance?"

"Queer smell--yes! Like bilge or a rank swamp. It was distinctly
nauseating; when I came out I felt as if I had just been going to be
sick. I shall try back on my visit and see if I can recall any