168
XXIII. Simon's Views 176
XXIV. Mr. Bisset's Assistant 185
XXV. A Telegram 196
XXVI. At Stanesland 201
XXVII. Flight 209
XXVIII. The Return 216
XXIX. Brother and Sister 224
XXX. A Marked Man 229
XXXI. The Letter Again 240
XXXII. The Sympathetic Stranger 247
XXXIII. The House of Mysteries 253
XXXIV. A Confidential Conversation 261
XXXV. In the Garden 271
XXXVI. The Walking Stick 278
XXXVII. Bisset's Advice 285
XXXVIII. Trapped 291
XXXIX. The Yarn 301
XL. The Last Chapter 312

SIMON

I

THE SOLITARY PASSENGER

The train had come a long journey and the afternoon was wearing on.
The passenger in the last third class compartment but one, looking
out of the window sombrely and intently, saw nothing now but desolate
brown hills and a winding lonely river, very northern looking under
the autumnal sky.

He was alone in the carriage, and if any one had happened to study his
movements during the interminable journey, they would have concluded
that for some reason he seemed to have a singularly strong inclination
for solitude. In fact this was at least the third compartment he had
occupied, for whenever a fellow traveller entered, he unostentatiously
descended, and in a moment had slipped, also unostentatiously, into an
empty carriage. Finally he had selected one at the extreme end of the
train, a judicious choice which had ensured privacy for the last couple
of hours.

When the train at length paused in the midst of the moorlands and for
some obscure reason this spot was selected for the examination of
tickets, another feature of this traveller's character became apparent.
He had no ticket, he confessed, but named the last station as his place
of departure and the next as his destination. Being an entirely
respectable looking per