to give up the tea and the very late hours. I was a
keen student in my time, so I suppose I may take the liberty of a
college man, and without offence, advise you not quite as a stranger.'

Malcolmson with a bright smile held out his hand. 'Shake! as they say
in America,' he said. 'I must thank you for your kindness and Mrs.
Witham too, and your kindness deserves a return on my part. I promise
to take no more strong tea--no tea at all till you let me--and I shall
go to bed tonight at one o'clock at latest. Will that do?'

'Capital,' said the doctor. 'Now tell us all that you noticed in the
old house,' and so Malcolmson then and there told in minute detail all
that had happened in the last two nights. He was interrupted every now
and then by some exclamation from Mrs. Witham, till finally when he
told of the episode of the Bible the landlady's pent-up emotions found
vent in a shriek; and it was not till a stiff glass of brandy and
water had been administered that she grew composed again. Dr.
Thornhill listened with a face of growing gravity, and when the
narrative was complete and Mrs. Witham had been restored he asked:

'The rat always went up the rope of the alarm bell?'

'Always.'

'I suppose you know,' said the Doctor after a pause, 'what the rope
is?'

'No!'

'It is,' said the Doctor slowly, 'the very rope which the hangman used
for all the victims of the Judge's judicial rancour!' Here he was
interrupted by another scream from Mrs. Witham, and steps had to be
taken for her recovery. Malcolmson having looked at his watch, and
found that it was close to his dinner hour, had gone home before her
complete recovery.

When Mrs. Witham was herself again she almost assailed the Doctor with
angry questions as to what he meant by putting such horrible ideas
into the poor young man's mind. 'He has quite enough there already to
upset him,' she added. Dr. Thornhill replied:

'My dear madam, I had a distinct purpose in it! I wanted to draw his
attention to the bell rope, and to fix it there. It may be that he is
in a highly overwrought state, and has been studying too much,
although I am bound to say that he seems as sound and healthy a young
man, mentally and bodily, as ever I saw--but then the rats--and that
suggestion of the devil.' The doctor shook his head and went on. 'I
would have offered to go and stay the first night with him but that I
felt sure it would have been a cause of offence. He may get in the
nigh