"Yes, I'm not afraid," said the child; and leaving Stephen sitting on a flat tombstone, she went up to the window and peeped in. "Who did you see?" said the little boy, when she came back. "I saw nobody but a mouse," said Audrey, "a little grey mouse, sitting in the corner and eating a bit of bread; but the floor is all washed and clean, and the cobwebs are gone, and I saw a letter lying on the window-sill." "Who can be there?" said Stephen. "We must watch and see." They had not long to wait, for that very afternoon a man's face appeared at the window. He was a tall man, dressed in black, quite a gentleman, Audrey thought him. He was an old man, for his hair was very white, and he stooped a little; but he was very active in spite of his age, and his bright dark eyes seemed to be taking in all he saw at a glance. He only looked out for a minute, but as Audrey and Stephen crept nearer, they saw that he was very busy. He put down a bright-coloured carpet on the floor, and brought in a large, leather easy-chair and a little round table, and placed these close to the window, and he hung a canary in its cage just over the casement. Then he nailed up white muslin curtains, and Audrey and Stephen thought the old house looked very pretty, and were glad that some one had come to live in it. "Will he live by himself, Stephen, do you think?" said Audrey. But before Stephen had time to answer, Aunt Cordelia's voice was heard calling— "Now, Audrey, tea-time! What about your pinafore?" The pinafore was quite clean this time, and Audrey went in with a light heart; and as a reward for keeping clear of dirt, she was allowed to play with Stephen again after tea. She was eager to get out, that she might catch another glimpse of her old man, as she called him; but she found the shutters closed, and she and Stephen could only watch the flickering of the bright light inside. "He's got a fire," said Stephen; "look at the smoke coming up out of the chimney." "And he's got a lamp, too," said Audrey. "Look, you can see it through the crack in this shutter." [Illustration: "THERE'S SOME ONE SITTING IN THE WINDOW!" HE SAID.] "Listen—" said Stephen. "What is he doing?" The sound of hammering came again and again from the room, the window of which looked into the churchyard. "He's putting up his pictures," said Audrey. "How pretty it will look in the morning!" There was, however, no time for her to peep at it before school; but when she came home at twelve o'clock, she found Stephen full of excitement. "There's some one sitting in the window, and I can't make out who it is," he said. "I can see something white, and it moves, but it isn't the old man's head; it's too white for that." "Why don't you go and look?" said Audrey. "I daren't," said Stephen; "I waited for you, Audrey." The little girl went on tip-toe and peeped in.