, and the sound
echoed like the merriment of ghosts from the dim timbered roof above
me.

'What are you laughing at?' asked the earl.

'I am laughing to see you put your modern tall hat on that mediaeval
helmet.'

'Oh, that's it! Well, put yours on the other. I mean no disrespect to
the ancestor who wore this suit, but we are short of the harmless,
necessary hat-rack, so I put my topper on the antique helmet, and
thrust the umbrella (if I have one) in behind here, and down one of
his legs. Since I came in possession, a very crafty-looking dealer
from London visited me, and attempted to sound me regarding the sale
of these suits of armour. I gathered he would give enough money to
keep me in new suits, London made, for the rest of my life, but when I
endeavoured to find out if he had had commercial dealings with my
prophetic uncle, he became frightened and bolted. I imagine that if I
had possessed presence of mind enough to have lured him into one of
our most uncomfortable dungeons, I might have learned where some of
the family treasures went to. Come up these stairs, Monsieur Valmont,
and I will show you your room.'

We had lunched on the train coming down, so after a wash in my own
room I proceeded at once to inspect the library. It proved, indeed, a
most noble apartment, and it had been scandalously used by the old
reprobate, its late tenant. There were two huge fireplaces, one in the
middle of the north wall and the other at the eastern end. In the
latter had been erected a rude brick forge, and beside the forge hung
a great black bellows, smoky with usage. On a wooden block lay the
anvil, and around it rested and rusted several hammers, large and
small. At the western end was a glorious window filled with ancient
stained glass, which, as I have said, might have adorned a cathedral.
Extensive as the collection of books was, the great size of this
chamber made it necessary that only the outside wall should be covered
with book cases, and even these were divided by tall windows. The
opposite wall was blank, with the exception of a picture here and
there, and these pictures offered a further insult to the room, for
they were cheap prints, mostly coloured lithographs that had appeared
in Christmas numbers of London weekly journals, encased in
poverty-stricken frames, hanging from nails ruthlessly driven in above
them. The floor was covered with a litter of papers, in some places
knee-deep, and in the corner farthest