e Sir Burnham's under-keeper. What's he
doin' of up there at Park all day? Layin' traps and such--that's what
he's doin' of. My son Jim knows it, he do. My son Jim found one of
'em--and left best part of a pair of trousers in it, too!"

These statements if true would seem to cast an unpleasant sidelight
upon the character of my acquaintance of the Abbey Inn. I wondered if
the "Jim" referred to was that "young Jim Corder" whose name seemed
to be a standing joke with the man Hawkins (I learned later that it
was so). And I wondered if Martin's mysterious references to certain
patrons, whose patronage had damaged his business, might not have
referred to the game-keeper. Moreover I now put a new construction
upon Hawkins' sly amusement when I had inquired about the "shooting"
in the neighborhood.

I began to grow keenly interested, and:

"Surely you took some steps in the matter?" I asked.

"Oh, ah. My son Jim did. He lay for days for that there Gipsy
Hawkins--but Hawkins was too wise for him."

"But," said I, "you could legally have claimed damages."

"Maybe," was the reply; "but I reckon they'd have asked what my son
Jim was doing in the Park. Oh, ah, I reckon they would."

This point of view had not hitherto presented itself to me, but that
it was a just one I did not doubt.

"What is the object of all this?" I asked. "Does Lady Coverly object
to any one entering the grounds?"

"'Tain't Lady Coverly," confided the old man; "it's that there black
doctor."

"What black doctor?" I exclaimed.

"Him they call Doctor Greefe."

"Oh," said I, "you call him the black doctor. Is he a negro?"

"He's black," was the reply, "black he is although his hair is white.
Oh, ah, there's black blood in him all right."

"And what has he to do with the man-traps in the Park?"

"Has 'em put there--has 'em put there, he does."

"But what for? Surely the property belongs not to Dr. Greefe but to
Lady Coverly."

"Belongs to her! Her own soul don't belong to her!"

I was conscious of a growing excitement. I thought that I was about to
learn the very fact which I was seeking, and accordingly:

"What is the age of Lady Burnham Coverly?" I asked.

"Lady Burnham? Well, let me see; she were not more'n about
twenty-five, I reckon, when Sir Burnham first brought her to the Park.
Them was the days, them was. These parts 'as changed cruel since I was
a young man. Then it was soon after as Sir Burnham went off to Egypt
for government