papered in sea-green, furnished in velvet of a delicate blue, and
adorned with a majestic mantelpiece of variously tinted marbles. Such
was the room that Somerset remembered; that which he now beheld was
changed in almost every feature: the furniture covered with a figured
chintz; the walls hung with a rhubarb-coloured paper, and diversified by
the curtained recesses for no less than seven windows. It seemed to
himself that he must have entered, without observing the transition,
into the adjoining house. Presently from these more specious changes,
his eye condescended to the many curious objects with which the floor
was littered. Here were the locks of dismounted pistols; clocks and
clockwork in every stage of demolition, some still busily ticking, some
reduced to their dainty elements; a great company of carboys, jars, and
bottles; a carpenter's bench and a laboratory-table.

The back drawing-room, to which Somerset proceeded, had likewise
undergone a change. It was transformed to the exact appearance of a
common lodging-house bedroom; a bed with green curtains occupied one
corner; and the window was blocked by the regulation table and mirror.
The door of a small closet here attracted the young man's attention; and
striking a vesta, he opened it and entered. On a table, several wigs and
beards were lying spread; about the walls hung an incongruous display of
suits and overcoats; and conspicuous among the last the young man
observed a large overall of the most costly sealskin. In a flash his
mind reverted to the advertisement in the _Standard_ newspaper. The
great height of his lodger, the disproportionate breadth of his
shoulders, and the strange particulars of his instalment, all pointed to
the same conclusion.

The vesta had now burned to his fingers; and taking the coat upon his
arm, Somerset hastily returned to the lighted drawing-room. There, with
a mixture of fear and admiration, he pored upon its goodly proportions
and the regularity and softness of the pile. The sight of a large
pier-glass put another fancy in his head. He donned the fur coat; and
standing before the mirror in an attitude suggestive of a Russian
prince, he thrust his hands into the ample pockets. There his fingers
encountered a folded journal. He drew it out, and recognised the type
and paper of the _Standard;_ and at the same instant his eyes alighted
on the offer of two hundred pounds. Plainly then, his lodger, now no
longer mysterious, ha