“And sure enough he disappeared that very night, and everything went to prove that it was a deliberately planned flight. None of us felt sorry at losing him. But we were all considerably dismayed to find that the greater part of the family plate had disappeared with him. He must have had enough to do to carry it away unnoticed and unheard. At first we didn’t know what to do. Then I suggested going for the police. But the housekeeper said, ‘No, we must do nothing without asking the master’s advice first.’ “To this we agreed, and an account of the butler’s disappearance, together with a list of things he had stolen, was written and taken in with the breakfast. Presently there was a furious peal at the bell, and the housekeeper asked me to fetch the note we felt sure the master had been writing. “Be quick, Galbraith,’ said she, ‘I’m on tenterhooks to know how he’ll take it, and what we are to do. Perhaps he’ll come out of his shell now, and live more like a civilised human being. He used to set great store by the silver plate. It’s been in his family more than two-hundred years. “But so far from coming out of his shell, the master became, if possible, a more confirmed recluse than ever. His instructions to us were brief and to the point. ‘Take no steps to discover Wright,’ was his order. ‘Let his greed be his own punishment. What he has stolen does not equal the legacy I would have left him. Henceforth, do not name him to me. Let him be as one dead, and do not expect a successor in his place. My wants become fewer as I get more feeble, and I cannot tolerate the idea of having new people about the house. But I never forget those who are faithful to me, and a word to the wise is sufficient.’ “We took this last to mean that he would remember us in his will if we served him well. But this we had always done, so well, indeed, that we couldn’t improve ourselves. Soon after this there was a letter to Mr Milsom’s solicitors to be forwarded. Then a very big one was sent, to which Mr Crowday, the lawyer, brought back an answer, and, being curious, he went and laid it on his master’s table himself. But all was as quiet as it generally was, and he went away no wiser for his pains. Before he went he told the housekeeper that the master had been making a new will. But he wouldn’t say what it was. “Soon after this a queer rumour arose in the neighbourhood. It was said that the butler had been murdered, and that his ghost haunted the park belonging to Hallow Hall. I don’t know that we exactly believed this rumour, but we none of us cared to be out too late alone at night.