His sister acted as housekeeper to him, and although it was not a very large house, yet Ned Romer wondered that he had not been invited before during his holidays. There were bedrooms enough to accommodate him and his comrades. He excused his guardian, however, as being a bachelor, and not caring for the company of youngsters. Mr Raymond's house and offices faced the main street, with the cathedral in front of it, and a large garden leading down to the river at the back. It was an old-fashioned and somewhat dark house inside, filled with passages, recesses, cupboards, and unexpected nooks. The walls of the dining-room were oak-wainscotted. The offices also were lined with the same enduring and time-blackened material. It had been a great family house at one time, as the crests and ornaments on the ceilings showed. The small-paned windows likewise told of its ancient history. The furniture also was old and solid, with little of the modern superfluities to lighten it up. It was a comfortable house, but not one where youth would be likely to bud out with exuberance. Both Mr Raymond and his austere sister suited the appointments of the house. She was an elderly spinster, stiff, precise, and most severely orderly. He was a sharp-faced man, who appeared wedded to his legal documents, and possessing a mind never far out of his office. It was late in the afternoon when our heroes arrived, and, after spending a few hours in the society of their host and hostess, they were not sorry when bedtime came. "There is no good lingering here any longer than we can help, lads," said Ned on retiring. "Tomorrow I intend to tackle old Raymond, and see what he purposes doing for us." That night the lawyer had a final look over the papers relating to the affairs of his late client, Mr Romer. He did this after the boys and his household had retired and behind locked doors. A fox-like man of about fifty Mr Jabez was, with thin hair and side whiskers, originally dark red, but now grizzled and grey. Much poring over documents had reddened his eyelids and sharp long nose, and taken the red out of his long parchment-like jaws. His mouth was thin-lipped and wide, which gave him an unpleasant grin when he smiled, as he was doing now, his eyes also were yellow speckled, like Fred Weldon's, but, unlike Fred's open eyes, they were shifty and half hidden by the reddened, scantily lashed lids. "Hum, these will do, I think. It is not at all likely that this boy will dispute my accounts or ask outside aid to understand these professional mysteries. I'll have it over tomorrow with him, while he is eager to get away, and make him a liberal offer, to be rid of him at once and for ever." It will be seen from this muttered soliloquy inside the door of Mr Jabez Raymond's study that he was of the same mind as his unsophisticated ward--to get into and over business as rapidly as possible.