Mr Musgrave was not superstitious, and his thoughts, unlike his footsteps, did not follow in the direction which Robert's had taken. Nothing was farther from his mind at the moment than ghosts; therefore when an ungainly-looking object pounded towards him in the gloom, instead of his imagination playing him tricks, he recognised immediately the clumsy, familiar figure of Diogenes, even before Diogenes rushed at him with a joyous bark of welcome. Mr Musgrave's thought on the spur of the moment was to secure Diogenes and take him home; but, as though suspicious of his motives in grabbing at his collar, Diogenes broke away from the controlling hand, and dived hastily for cover, making for some bushes of rhododendrons, into which Mr Musgrave plunged recklessly in pursuit, so intent on the capture of his elusive trust that he failed to note the figure of a man, which, bearing in sight as he broke into the bushes, hurried forward in hot pursuit, and, following close upon his heels, seized him with a pair of strong arms and dragged him, choking and amazed, into the open path. "Musgrave!" said Mr Chadwick. He released Mr Musgrave's collar, and stood back and stared at his captive. "What, in the name of fortune, are you up to?" Mr Musgrave inserted two fingers inside his collar, felt his throat tenderly, and coughed. "You need not have been so rough," he complained. "Upon my word, I mistook you for a tramp," Mr Chadwick explained, laughing. "What on earth were you playing hide-and-seek in the bushes for? I begin to believe this path must be bewitched, by the extraordinary manner in which people using it behave. Have you been seeing ghosts too?" "I saw my dog," Mr Musgrave explained with dignity. "I was following him." "Oh, that's it, is it? Well, you had better come on to the house. I expect we shall find Diogenes there. He was, before you arrived, taking a stroll with me. Seems to be pretty much at home here. Why can't you keep him at your place?" "He is--" Mr Musgrave coughed again, as though his throat still troubled him--"very much attached to Miss Annersley." "Rather sudden in his attachments, isn't he?" Mr Chadwick suggested. "Miss Annersley takes considerable notice of him," Mr Musgrave replied. "I have been thinking that, subject to your permission, I would like to make her a present of the dog." "I am at least gratified to find that you realise I have a right to a say in the matter," Diogenes' lawful owner remarked with irony. "I should like to ask you a question, Musgrave. Possession being nine-tenths of the law, should you say that constituted the right to give away what doesn't, in the strict sense of the word, belong to you?" Mr Musgrave, experiencing further difficulty with his throat, was thereby prevented from replying to this question. His interlocutor tapped him lightly on the chest.