ot on the brilliant white surface of the
sun-brightened road.

The man ran strangely in Midwinter's thoughts while he took his way back
to the house. He was at a loss to account for it. It never occurred to
him that he might have been insensibly reminded of himself, when he saw
the plain traces of past misfortune and present nervous suffering in
the poor wretch's face. He blindly resented his own perverse interest in
this chance foot passenger on the high-road, as he had resented all else
that had happened to him since the beginning of the day. "Have I made
another unlucky discovery?" he asked himself, impatiently. "Shall I see
this man again, I wonder? Who can he be?"

Time was to answer both those questions before many days more had passed
over the inquirer's head.

Allan had not returned when Midwinter reached the house. Nothing had
happened but the arrival of a message of apology from the cottage.
"Major Milroy's compliments, and he was sorry that Mrs. Milroy's illness
would prevent his receiving Mr. Armadale that day." It was plain that
Mrs. Milroy's occasional fits of suffering (or of ill temper) created
no mere transitory disturbance of the tranquillity of the household.
Drawing this natural inference, after what he had himself heard at the
cottage nearly three hours since, Midwinter withdrew into the library to
wait patiently among the books until his friend came back.

It was past six o'clock when the well-known hearty voice was heard again
in the hall. Allan burst into the library, in a state of irrepressible
excitement, and pushed Midwinter back unceremoniously into the chair
from which he was just rising, before he could utter a word.

"Here's a riddle for you, old boy!" cried Allan. "Why am I like the
resident manager of the Augean stable, before Hercules was called in to
sweep the litter out? Because I have had my place to keep up, and I've
gone and made an infernal mess of it! Why don't you laugh? By George,
he doesn't see the point! Let's try again. Why am I like the resident
manager--"

"For God's sake, Allan, be serious for a moment!" interposed Midwinter.
"You don't know how anxious I am to hear if you have recovered the good
opinion of your neighbors."

"That's just what the riddle was intended to tell you!" rejoined Allan.
"But if you will have it in so many words, my own impression is that you
would have done better not to disturb me under that tree in the park.
I've been calculating it t