's Hill, and in London
at Hyde Park Place, who were his seniors. He was under an engagement to
visit Dickens,--had his portmanteau packed in fact, almost ready to
start on his journey--when he saw to his amazement the announcement of
his death in the newspapers--and it was a very great shock to him. Not
long afterwards, Mr. Fildes said, the family, with much kind
thoughtfulness, renewed the invitation to him to stay a few days at
Gad's Hill Place, and during that time he made the imperishable drawing
of "The Empty Chair."

Bearing in mind the above circumstances coming from so high an
authority, a missing link has been supplied, but--_The Mystery of Edwin
Drood_ is still unsolved!

FOOTNOTES:

[8] It is interesting to record that the foundations of this Church were
met with for the first time, in restoring the west front of the
Cathedral, in 1889.

[9] This was written in 1888; on a subsequent visit to Rochester we were
sorry to find that the frost had made sad havoc with this beautiful
tree.

[10] Mr. Charles Dickens informs me that Mr. Fildes is right, and that
Edwin Drood was dead. His (Mr. Dickens's) father told him so himself.

CHAPTER VI.

RICHARD WATTS'S CHARITY, ROCHESTER.

"Strictly speaking, there were only _six_ Poor
Travellers; but being a Traveller myself, though
an idle one, and being withal as poor as I hope to
be, I brought the number up to seven. . . . I, for
one, am so divided this night between fact and
fiction, that I scarce know which is which."--_The
Seven Poor Travellers._

THE most unique Charity ever described in fiction, or founded on fact,
well deserves a few pages to be devoted to a record of its interesting
history and present position. We therefore occupy a short time in
examining it on Thursday morning, before our visit to the Marshes.

[Illustration: The "Six Poor Travellers"]

Except for _The Seven Poor Travellers_, which was the title of the
Christmas Number of _Household Words_ issued in 1854, it is possible
that few beyond "the ancient city" would ever have heard, or indeed have
cared to hear, anything about the Worshipful Master Richard Watts or his
famous Charity; now, as all the world knows, it is a veritable
"household word" to readers and admirers of Dickens. In the narrative,
he, as the first Traveller, is supposed to have visited Rochester, and
passed the evening with the six Poor Travel