of the sea, and that whenever his business would allow him,
he proposed taking a trip to indulge his fancy. He went so far even to
invite Mr Groocock to accompany him, his offer, however, as may be
supposed, being declined.

On one side of the mill the ground sloped rapidly down for twenty feet
or more, and here a house was erected, the roof of which reached
scarcely higher than the basement of the mill itself, so that the arms
on which the sails were stretched could pass freely over it. This
building had been in even a more dilapidated condition than the mill
itself. The lower portion was used as a stable, where the miller kept
his horse, the upper contained two rooms. Miles Gaffin had partially
repaired the house, and had had the two rooms fitted up as sleeping
apartments, that he might, as he said, put up any guest whom he could
not accommodate in his own house. From the time he had taken possession
of it he had, however, admitted none of his neighbours, though it was
rumoured that strange men who had landed from the suspicious lugger had
been observed entering the house, and sometimes leaving it, either on
foot or on horseback, and making their way inland; lights also had been
seen at all hours of the night when certainly the mill itself was not at
work. It was remarked, too, by several of the fishermen in the
neighbourhood, that the stranger had been carrying on some work or other
either inside the house or below the mill, as they had observed a large
quantity of earth which had been thrown down over the cliff, and though
part of it had been washed away by the spring tides, it still went on
increasing. When one of them made an observation to him on the subject,
he replied promptly that he had heard a noise one night, and had no
doubt that part of the cliff had given way. However, considering the
risk there was, should such have been the case, of his mill being
carried down bodily to the beach, he took the matter very coolly.

From time to time a still larger quantity of earth was observed, and it
was whispered by one or two of his more sagacious neighbours that Miles
Gaffin must be excavating a vault beneath his mill, possibly for the
purpose of forming a granary in which to store corn purchased by him
when prices were low. Why, however, he had not employed any of the
labourers in the neighbourhood, or why he should have the work carried
on in secret, no one could determine. Still the idea prevailed that