tery of Salter
Quick. All I thought of, I think, just then was that we had come across
some old relic of antiquity--the church of some coast hamlet or village
which had long been left to the ruinous work of time, and my only
immediate interest was in endeavouring to decipher the half-worn-out
inscription on the stone by which I was kneeling. While my companion stood
by me, watching with eager attention, I scraped out the earth and moss and
lichen from the lettering--fortunately, it had been deeply incised in the
stone--a hard and durable sort--and much of it remained legible, once the
rubbish had been cleared from it. Presently I made out at any rate
several words and figures:

_Hic jacet dominus ...
Humfrey de Knaythville ...
quond' vicari huius ...
ecclie qui obeit ...
anno dei mccccxix .._.

Beneath these lines were two or three others, presumably words of
scripture, which had evidently become worn away before the moss spread
its protecting carpet over the others. But we had learnt something.

"There we are!" said I, regarding the result of my labours with proud
satisfaction. "There it runs--'Here lies the lord, or master, Humphrey
de Knaythville, sometime vicar of this church, who died in the year of
our Lord one thousand four hundred and nineteen'--nearly six hundred
years ago! A good find!"

"Splendid!" exclaimed Miss Raven, already excited to enthusiasm by
these antiquarian discoveries. "I wonder if there are inscriptions on
the other tombs?"

"No doubt," I assented, "and perhaps some, or things of interest, on
this fallen masonry. This place is well worth careful examination, and
I'm wondering how it is that I haven't come across any reference to it
in the local books. But to be sure, I haven't read them very fully or
carefully--Mr. Cazalette may know of it. We shall have something to
tell him."

We began to look round again. I wandered into the base of the tower;
Miss Raven began to explore the weed-choked ground towards the east
end. Suddenly I heard a sharp, startled exclamation from her. Turning,
I saw her standing by the great clump of overgrown gorse of which I
have already spoken. She glanced at me; then at something behind the
gorse.

"What is it?" I asked.

Unconsciously, she lowered her voice, at the same time glancing,
half-nervously, at the thick undergrowth of the wood.

"Come here!" she said. "Come!"

I went across the weed-grown surface to her side. She pointed