ng, but when I saw that rickety outfit drawn up to
the steps, I was about to tell him that the other entrance was the
place for him. He must have read my eye--he's a sharp one--for he
said, 'Your master won't thank you for turning me away, when I'm a
member of the family,' and sure enough, there was Mr. Peyton behind me
in the hall telling me to bring him in. He was nervous and put out
with everybody after the man was gone, and he is more and more upset
each time he comes. And the fellow begins to come often. I thought
that if he was a member of the family you might know who he was--and
how we could get rid of him."

The heat of the last words put an end to any possible thought that
the man's questions were prompted by a servant's unwarranted curiosity
concerning his master. It was plain that Cousin Jasper was a
well-beloved employer and that the two chief persons of his household
had been laying their heads together over the mystery of his evident
trouble.

Hotchkiss was about to tell them more, when a bell, sounding below,
summoned him away. There was an interval during which they tried to
return to their books, but found their minds occupied with thoughts of
what the butler had said. Who could this man be, whom they had both
noticed and both set down as odious, and whose coming seemed to have
such an unhappy effect upon Cousin Jasper? A relative? It did not seem
possible. Presently Hotchkiss was at the door again, more troubled
than ever.

"Mr. Peyton wants the motor, but it's Jennings' evening off and he has
gone to town," he said. "Didn't I hear you tell him, Mr. Oliver, that
you knew how to drive that make of car?"

Oliver had, indeed, dropped such a hint two days before, hoping that
the dullness of his visit might be lightened by his being invited to
take the car out for a spin. The statement had fallen on quite
unheeding ears in Cousin Jasper's case, but had been treasured up by
the butler.

"Yes, I can drive it," agreed Oliver, rather doubting whether Cousin
Jasper would really desire him as a chauffeur. He got up and went
downstairs, to find his cousin waiting in the hall, so nervous and
impatient that he made no other comment than:

"We must make haste."

Oliver hurried out to the garage, backed out the heavy car, paused
under the portico for Cousin Jasper to climb in beside him, and sped
away down the drive.

"Which way?" he asked, as they came out through the gate, and was
directed along the roa