which would throw light suddenly upon some part of the story where falsehood was grafted on to truth. “Talk! talk!” he said to himself. “Plenty of that, and deuced few facts. Well, we’ll find them, if they’re there; and if they’re not, well, that will be a fact of the highest importance in itself.” He had forgotten the existence of Timmins, but Timmins had not forgotten him. He had no sooner put his foot inside the inn than Timmins met him and exclaimed, “Ah! there you are, sir! I ’ardly expected to see you till the evening. But there ain’t much that’s hid from you now, I’ll be bound.” This was intended, as Humblethorne was well aware, as a question, but he did not choose to gratify idle curiosity and he was very hungry; so he only replied that he wanted some lunch and hoped that he would receive a little more attention than he had been favoured with at breakfast. Timmins was disappointed, even pained, and roared out commands to bring the gentleman his lunch immediately; how much longer was he to be kept waiting? His personal endeavours produced it in a time that ordinary frequenters of the inn would have considered astounding, and he waited himself upon so august a guest. Humblethorne ate for some time in silence, and Timmins after trying in vain to draw him out, even suggesting half a dozen people that he “’ad ’is suspicions of,” finally remarked with a sigh— “I see ’ow it is; you ain’t got all your ideas in order yet to want to talk. I only wanted to ’elp, as it might be. There’s a lot o’ sense in that old saying about two ’eds sometimes. Many a time my old woman ’as come to me and sed, ‘Joe!’ she sez——” Humblethorne pushed his plate away. It was obvious that Timmins meant to talk; he might as well be made to talk to some purpose. “Timmins,” he said, “Sir Roger seems to have been a highly unpopular man.” “Ah, you may well say that, sir,” responded Timmins heartily; no true inhabitant of a village fails to enter with gusto into the demerits of a neighbour. “There won’t be many as’ll break their ’earts over ’im.” “Why was that? I mean, was there anything particular about him? It seems to be more than general dislike.” “Well, there was ’arf a dozen things the people ’ere had agin him; but I reckon it was the way ’e treated ’is son that first let folks see ’is real character.” “His son? I didn’t know he had one,” said Humblethorne.