, and so they strolled down the street without conversing.
Their course took them past the bank, and as Mr. McGregor was standing
on the steps of the side entrance, he accosted them heartily.

"Why, how do you do, gentlemen?" he asked. "Won't you walk in for a few
minutes? I havn't seen you since your illness, Mr. Drysdale; won't you
come in and rest a while?"

On hearing McGregor's salutation, Drysdale started as if stung, and
trembled violently. He had been walking along with his eyes down, so
that he had not seen Mr. McGregor until spoken to.

"No, thank you," he replied; "I think I won't have time--that is, I
promised my wife to come back soon. You must excuse me this time."

He hurried on with a nervous gesture of courtesy, and he did not recover
his calmness until some minutes afterward. Andrews accompanied him to
his home, and on the way they agreed to go to Drysdale's plantation for
a short visit on the following Monday. Having settled upon the time for
starting and returning, Andrews declined an invitation to dine with
Drysdale that evening, and they separated. Andrews dropped into Breed's
shop on his way back to the hotel, and there he found young Green, the
man who had made his book-case. They talked together only a few minutes,
and Andrews then went to his room, where he stayed the remainder of the
day.

On Monday, Andrews and Drysdale rode off to the plantation at daylight,
and the latter's spirits seemed to lighten rapidly after leaving the
immediate vicinity of Atkinson. In the afternoon, Andrews took his gun
and wandered off into the woods, but he did not seem very desirous of
shooting anything, for he soon took a position whence he commanded a
full view of the house. In about half an hour, Drysdale came out and
walked slowly toward a small cluster of trees, about five hundred yards
from the house. Here, he leaned against a tree, and paused to look
around in every direction; then he began to stride with a measured step
in a straight line. When he stopped, he began to examine the ground
carefully for some minutes, and finally, he seemed satisfied with his
inspection, and returned to the house.

During the remainder of their stay at the plantation, Andrews and
Drysdale were constantly together, and the latter seemed to find the
greatest pleasure in the former's society. He frequently recurred to the
subject of ghosts and spooks, and always closed by discussing the
character of the apparition he had s