“It is not that idle rumor to which I refer. A place that has been little better than a stronghold of godless revellers, gamblers, drunkards, duellists, murderers, if all be true that is told of them, is no proper home for any lady, not to say you. It is only fit to be turned into a smelting-furnace for the treasures of iron ore said to be hidden in the depths of these mountains,” gravely concluded the young man. “Oh, then you don’t believe that the house is haunted,” said Gloria, good-humoredly. “It is haunted by the association of atrocious crimes and bitter sufferings, if by no other ghosts. Lady dear, I wish you would not think of living here,” he pleaded. “The poor old place is in no way to blame for the evil lives of the monsters who once lived here and have now gone to where they belong—to Pandemonium. I shall stay here, David Lindsay, until I have become familiar with every part of the house, and acquainted with every part of the mountain. If I grow weary of the place I shall take Phil Cummings for a companion and one of her old uncles for an escort, and return to Washington.” As Gloria said this, the housekeeper, who sat between the young pair, looked from one to the other, and with the bluntness that belonged to her nature and circumstances, exclaimed: “Why, surely, if you go, Mr. Lindsay must escort you himself.” “Mr. Lindsay has business that will compel his return North as soon as he sees me settled in my home,” coldly replied Gloria. David Lindsay’s fine face flushed, and then grew pale. “Well, I suppose, such a big estate as yours, ma’am—for I am told that Gryphynshold is but a small portion of it, and that the bulk of it is in Maryland—will require a deal of attention, not to say what the gentleman’s own affairs may call for; but one would think you would have settled all that before you came down here, so as not to be separated so soon again. It seems such a pity,” said the housekeeper, sympathetically. Gloria did not reply, and David Lindsay could not. “Well, I didn’t sit down here to idle away my time. I must go to the linen room and see to getting out the things to make up the beds—though, dear me, when I come to think of how long they have been packed away in the cedar chests, I don’t believe they will be fit for use, for yellowness and closeness,” said the housekeeper, getting up to leave the room. “I will go with you,” said Gloria, rising to follow Mrs. Brent, for her sensitive conscience and sympathetic spirit made her dread a _tête-à-tête_ with David Lindsay almost as much as she had ever dreaded one with her uncle; not that she thought, for one instant, that the pure-hearted and noble-minded young fisherman would ever, under any temptation, or for any reason, break his word to her, or take the slightest unfair advantage of his position towards her.