but in the neighbouring village; at Mrs. Stanley's request, however, she came to give a report of the circumstance. {"Spectator" = Susan Fenimore Cooper has been forgetful; the sailor, it was stated in Chapter 12, had a copy of Volume three; Addison's essays on Paradise Lost, that Harry remembered reading, are in fact contained in Volumes four and five; but we are now told that it is Volumes six and eight that are missing from the shelf!} "It was in March these two strangers were here, you say, Malvina?" observed Mrs. Stanley. "Yes, ma'am; it was in March, when the roads were very bad." "What sort of looking persons were they, and how old should you have called them?" asked Hazlehurst. "One was a tall and slim gentleman, with curly hair; the other looked kind o' rough, he was stout, and had a red face; they wasn't very young, nor very old." "Tell us, if you please, all you remember about their visit, just as it passed," said Harry. "Well, it happened Mrs. Jones was sick in her room when they called; they wanted to see the house, saying they knew the family very well. I asked them to sit down in the hall, while I went to tell Mrs. Jones; she hadn't any objections, and told me to show them the rooms they wanted to see. So I took them over the house--first the parlours, then the other rooms." "Did they ask to see the bed-rooms?" "Yes, sir; they went over all the house but the garret; they went into the kitchen and the pantry." "Did they stay some time?" "Yes, sir; Mrs. Jones wondered they staid so long." "Did they go into the library?" "Yes, sir." "Do you remember whether they looked at the books?" "No; they didn't stay more than a minute in the library." "Are you sure they did not look at any of the books?" repeated Harry. "I am quite sure they didn't, for the room was too dark, and they only staid half-a-minute. I asked them if I should open the shutters; but one of them said they didn't care; he said he was never over-fond of books." Mrs. Stanley and Harry here exchanged looks of some surprise. "Did they talk much to each other?--do you remember what they said?" continued Harry. "Yes, they talked considerable. I reckon they had been here before, for they seemed to know a good deal about the house. When I showed them the south parlour, the gentleman with the red face said everything looked natural to him, but that room most of all; then he pointed to the large chair by the fire-place, and said: 'That is where I last saw my father, in that very chair; he was a good old gentleman, and deserved to have a better son.'" "Is it possible!" exclaimed Mrs. Stanley. "But, my dear madam, it was all acting no doubt; they wished to pass for the characters they have since assumed; it only proves that the plot has been going on for some time." "Do you remember anything else that was said?" added Hazlehurst, turning again to the girl.