ng, and certainly the cracked bell spoke with the voice of
ancient monasteries, and had in it the hush of cloisters and the sigh
of renunciation.

Although I had mentioned nothing of the purpose of my journey to mine
host of the Abbey Inn or to any of his cronies--and these were few in
number--I had hoped to find Hawkins at the lodge; and a second time I
awoke the ghostly bell-voice. But nothing responded to its call; man,
bird and beast had seemingly deserted Friar's Park.

Faintly I detected the lowing of cattle in some distant pasture; the
ranks of firs whispered secretly one to another; and the pall above
the hills grew blacker and began to stretch out over the valley.

Amid this ominous stillness of nature I began to ascend the
cone-strewn path. Evidently enough the extensive grounds had been
neglected for years, and that few pedestrians and fewer vehicles ever
sought Friar's Park was demonstrated by the presence of luxurious
weeds in the carriage-way. Having proceeded for some distance, until
the sheer hillside seemed to loom over me like the wall of a tower, I
paused, peering about in the ever growing darkness. I was aware of a
physical chill; certainly no ray of sunlight ever penetrated to this
tunnel through the firs. Could I have mistaken the path and be
proceeding, not towards the house, but away from it, and into the
gloom of the woods? Or perhaps the deserted lodge was that of some
other, empty establishment.

There was something uncomfortable in this reflection; momentarily I
knew a childish fear of the dim groves. I thought of the "darkness
'broidered with luminous eyes," and I walked forward rapidly,
self-assertively. Ten paces brought me to one of the many bends in the
winding road--and there, far ahead, as though out of some cavern in
the very hillside, a yellow light shone.

I pressed on with greater assurance, until the house became visible.
Now I perceived that I had indeed strayed from the carriage sweep in
some way, for the path that I was following terminated at the foot of
a short flight of moss-covered steps. I mounted the steps and found
myself at the bottom of a terrace. The main entrance was far to my
left and separated from the terrace by a neglected lawn. That portion
of the place was Hanoverian and ugly, whilst the wing nearest to me
was Tudor and picturesque. Excepting the yellow light shining out from
a window on the right of the porch, no illuminations were visible
about the hous