Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) The Solitary Farm BY FERGUS HUME AUTHOR OF "THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB," "THE SACRED HERB," "THE SEALED MESSAGE," "THE GREEN MUMMY," "THE OPAL SERPENT," "THE RED WINDOW," "THE YELLOW HOLLY," ETC., ETC., ETC. G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK Copyright 1909 by G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY _The Solitary Farm_ [Illustration: AS BELLA RAN INTO HIS ARMS HE DRAGGED HER INTO THE STANDING CORN.] CONTENTS I. THE DOMAIN OF CERES II. THE WOOIN' O'T III. THE TARDY LOVER IV. SUDDEN DEATH V. A MYSTERIOUS CRIME VI. THE INQUEST VII. CYRIL AND BELLA VIII. THE WITCH-WIFE IX. THE COMING OF DURGO X. A LOVER'S MEETING XI. A RECOGNITION XII. CYRIL'S STORY XIII. MRS. TUNKS' DISCOVERY XIV. WHAT SILAS PENCE KNEW XV. DURGO, THE DETECTIVE XVI. THE PAPERS XVII. A CONFESSION XVIII. THE GHOST XIX. AN AWKWARD POSITION XX. THE MASTER MAGICIAN XXI. A DESPERATE ATTEMPT XXII. MRS. VAND'S REPENTANCE XXIII. WHAT LUKE TUNKS SAW XXIV. A REMARKABLE DISCOVERY XXV. RUN TO EARTH THE SOLITARY FARM CHAPTER I THE DOMAIN OF CERES "S' y' want t' merry m' gel, Bella!" remarked Captain Huxham, rubbing his stout knees slowly, and repeating the exact words of the clerical suitor. "S' thet she may be yer handmaiden, an' yer spouse, and yer sealed fountain, es y' put it in yer flowery pulpit lingo. Jus' so! Jus' so!" and shifting the quid which bulged his weather-beaten cheek, he stared with hard blue eyes. "Jus' so, Mr. Pence!" The young minister and the elderly skipper discussed the subject of marriage in a shabby antique room of small size, which had the appearance of having been used to more aristocratic company. The dark-oak panelled walls, the grotesquely-carved ceiling-beams, the Dutch-tiled fire-place, with its ungainly brass dogs, and the deep slanting embrasure of the lozenge-paned casement, suggested Georgian beaux and belles dancing buckram minutes, or at least hard-riding country squires plotting Jacobite restoration. But these happenings were in the long-ago, but this stately Essex manor-house had declined woefully from its high estate, and now sheltered a rough and ready mariner, who camped, rather than dwelt, under its roof.