“And you said the same thing to me,” I added, in similar tones. “Well, sir--well, Mr. Montmorency, I’m very sorry it should have happened so,” replied the landlord, turning from one to the other, “but it’s all my old woman’s fault, for I said to her--” “You did nothing of the sort,” interrupted his better half; “for when I come to you and told you as a second gentleman wanted rooms here, it was you as said, ‘Let him have the little room upstairs, and no one will be ever the wiser if he takes his meals out of a day.’” “But we never thought--begging your pardon, Mr. Montmorency--as you’d take such a liberty with the upper offices as to make noises in them as should disturb the whole house.” “Well, what was I to do?” replied the young man, appealing to me. “They’ve given me three leading parts to get up at a fortnight’s notice, and if I don’t study them at night I have no chance of being ready in time.” “In fact,” I said, oracularly, “you’ve been cheating each other all round. Mr. Bizzey has cheated his employers by letting apartments to which he has no right; you have cheated the Bizzeys by using one which you never hired of them; and I have--” “cheated myself,” I might have added, but I stopped short and looked wise instead. “And it was never no ghosts after all!” said Mrs. Bizzey, in accents of disappointment, as her husband marched her downstairs. * * * * * * * There is nothing more to tell. I reconciled Mr. Julian Cockleboat to his guardian and his destiny; and I wrote “The Origin of Dreams,” the best part, by the way (as all the critics affirmed), of “The Cyclopædia of the Brain.” I made more money by my little trip than six months of ordinary labour would have brought me; and Lord Seaborne speaks of me to this day, amongst his acquaintances, as the “very cleverest amateur detective he has ever known.” And so I am. THE END. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES This book is volume 2179 in the _Collection of British Authors, Tauchnitz Edition_ series. Obsolete and inconsistent spellings (e.g. basons, inuendoes, firearm/fire-arm, man-servant/man servant, etc.) have been preserved. Alterations to the text: Punctuation: correct some quotation mark pairings/nestings. [The Invisible Tenants of Rushmere] Change “Though we entered _evey_ room in turn” to _every_. [Little White Souls] “_aud_ a very dull Christmas the members of the 145th Bengal" _and_. “love and charity make themselves _conspicious_” to _conspicuous_. “but very _advisible_, not only for Katie, but for yourself” to _advisable_. “supported by a stone _ballustrade_, and containing eight more” to _balustrade_. “happened for an hour longer than is _apsolutely_ necessary” to _absolutely_. [Still Waters] “flowed over the _white-dressing gown_ which she had worn” to _white dressing-gown_. (“_Dont_ be a goose!” replied her husband, as he put her) to _Don’t_. [Chit-Chat from Andalusia] “who evidently belonged to the little _cortége_” to _cortège_. [“Mother.”]