ng, that was suspicious could I either
hear or see.

I walked on, by what we called the upper bank of the river; leading from
the village of Kylam. The night was cloudy and close. Now the moonlight
reached the earth at intervals; now again it was veiled in darkness. The
trees, at this part of the wood, so encroached on the bank of the stream
as considerably to narrow and darken the path. Seeing a possibility of
walking into the river if I went on much farther, I turned back again in
the more open direction of Kylam, and kept on briskly (as I reckon) for
about five minutes more.

I had just stopped to look at my watch, when I saw something dark
floating towards me, urged by the slow current of the river. As it came
nearer, I thought I recognized the mill-boat.

It was one of the dark intervals when the moon was overcast. I was
sufficiently interested to follow the boat, on the chance that a return
of the moonlight might show me who could possibly be in it. After no very
long interval, the yellow light for which I was waiting poured through
the lifting clouds.

The mill-boat, beyond all doubt--and nobody in it! The empty inside of
the boat was perfectly visible to me. Even if I had felt inclined to do
so, it would have been useless to jump into the water and swim to the
boat. There were no oars in it, and therefore no means of taking it back
to the mill. The one thing I could do was to run to old Toller and tell
him that his boat was adrift.

On my way to the cottage, I thought I heard a sound like the shutting of
a door. I was probably mistaken. In expectation of my return, the door
was secured by the latch only; and the miller, looking out of his bedroom
window, said: "Don't forget to lock it, sir; the key's inside."

I followed my instructions, and ascended the stairs. Surprised to hear me
in that part of the house, he came out on the landing in his nightgown.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing very serious," I said. "The boat's adrift. I suppose it will run
on shore somewhere."

"It will do that, Mr. Gerard; everybody along the river knows the boat."
He held up his lean trembling hand. "Old fingers don't always tie fast
knots."

He went back into his bed. It was opposite the window; and the window,
being at the side of the old cottage, looked out on the great open space
above the river. When the moonlight appeared, it shone straight into his
eyes. I offered to pull down the blind.

"Thank you kindly, sir