'Well, sir,

　　"Tuxbury Old Hall is inaccessible- five miles from anywhere. Therewas no trap at the station, so I had to walk, carrying my suitcase,and it was nearly dark before I arrived. It is a great wanderinghouse, standing in a considerable park. I should judge it was of allsorts of ages and styles, starting on a half-timbered Elizabethanfoundation and ending in a Victorian portico. Inside it was allpanelling and tapestry and half-effaced old pictures, a house ofshadows and mystery. There was a butler, old Ralph, who seemed aboutthe same age as the house, and there was his wife, who might have beenolder. She had been Godfrey's nurse, and I had heard him speak ofher as second only to his mother in his affections, so I was drawnto her in spite of her queer appearance. The mother I liked also- agentle little white mouse of a woman. It was only the colonelhimself whom I barred.

　　"We had a bit of barney right away, and I should have walked back tothe station if I had not felt that it might be playing his game for meto do so. I was shown straight into his study, and there I foundhim, a huge, bow-backed man with a smoky skin and a straggling graybeard, seated behind his littered desk. A red-veined nose jutted outlike a vulture's beak, and two fierce gray eyes glared at me fromunder tufted brows. I could understand now why Godfrey seldom spoke ofhis father.

　　"'Well, sir,' said he in a rasping voice, 'I should be interested toknow the real reasons for this visit.'

　　"I answered that I had explained them in my letter to his wife."'Yes, yes, you said that you had known Godfrey in Africa. Wehave, of course, only your word for that.'

　　"'I have his letters to me in my pocket.'

　　"'Kindly let me see them.'

　　"He glanced at the two which I handed him, and then he tossed themback.

　　"'Well, what then?' he asked.

　　"'I was fond of your son Godfrey, sir. Many ties and memories unitedus. Is it not natural that I should wonder at his sudden silence andshould wish to know what has become of him?'

　　"'I have some recollections, sir, that I had already correspondedwith you and had told you what had become of him. He has gone upon avoyage round the world. His health was in a poor way after his Africanexperiences, and both his mother and I were of opinion that completerest and change were needed. Kindly pass that explanation on to anyother friends who may be interested in the matter.'