peak to Agatha alone, and then drawing a
dusty leather portfolio from under his arm he held it out to her,
saying, 'I received a letter written by my father shortly before his
death, and which he had left in the charge of our lawyer. He told me
to give this to you. I fancy it may not prove so valuable to you as my
dear father hoped. It is merely a collection of notes of his, and a
few valuable papers about some Assyrian and Egyptian antiquities. He
always hoped to write a book upon the subject, but put off doing so
until he could obtain more information on certain points, or links,
that were missing.'

Agatha took her legacy very calmly.

'I daresay my sister Gwen, who is now abroad, will be interested in it.
She is very fond of antiquities of all sorts.'

Then looking at the young fellow's dazed, troubled face, she said
sympathetically, 'I am afraid you have spent a sad morning in looking
over your father's belongings.'

He laughed a little shortly.

'I have had a shock, and feel bewildered. I have not the faintest idea
how to act, and it is at present all dark to me. Miss Dane, you are a
good woman, my father says. Will you pray that I may have right
guidance about a very difficult matter? And may I come and see you
again? I shall be staying at the Crown Hotel in Brambleton for the
present. The Millers wanted me to go to them, but I cannot. If I
stayed in this village at all, it would have to be at the Hall, and
they--I do not want that.'

'I hope you do not look upon us as usurpers,' said Agatha. 'I cannot
tell you how guilty I feel sometimes about accepting this house from
your father, especially since your return. It seems as if you ought to
be here.'

Then Alick Lester looked up with his sunny smile.

'Miss Dane, I assure you I would never live here! My future is to be
spent either out in the colonies or--or in a different house to this.
And I cannot tell you what a cheery, home-like aspect you have given to
this old house. I am sure you are a boon to the neighbourhood, and I
should like, if you don't think it forward of me upon so short an
acquaintance, to look upon you all as friends.'

He grasped her hand warmly and departed; and from that time forward he
was on a friendly and familiar footing with the inmates of his old home.

Watson was found to have already left the neighbourhood, as Agatha
surmised, and no one was able to trace his movements. Not wishing to
create disturbance in