The Argosy — page 272: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Mrs. Raven’s Temptation. 251 He went to Sloam’s house through the village, passing some familiar faces as he went. A strong wind in the night had swept down many leaves, and autumn was clearly changing into winter. On Sloam’s low cottage wall, the Virginian creeper had shed its last ruddy beauty, and the doors and windows of the house were all shut. Frank fancied that he saw somebody move within as he passed the long, low-eaved casement, and so he expected his light tap to be promptly answered. But in this he was disappointed. He knocked again, and again, louder each time, yet fruitlessly, and at last stepped back and peeped through the window. He could see half of the in- terior, but not the two farther corners, in one of which Eldred’s bed stood. Going back to the door, he gently raised the latch. Eldred was on his bed, apparently deep in heavy slumber. No other living creature was to be seen. The room was quite clean and neat, presenting a very changed appearance since the evening when Charity and Evelyn had visited it and met the Vicar there. Probably the woman in charge had taken advantage of Eldred’s deep slumber to go down into the village, and do a little marketing. Frank felt that he was mistaken in thinking somebody moved, when he first passed the windows. He must have been deceived by a flicker of light and shade on sundry garments hanging on nails outside a closet door. He had all an English gentleman’s feelings about intrusion— especially upon humble folk. And he certainly would not have dreamed of penetrating farther into the cottage. Except one is playing at hide-and-seek, one does not look for people in dark cupboards. If Frank had done so, he might have found reason to ask why a sane woman need hide herself in one, because a gentleman of the Court had come to call on her. Frank thought he would go home the other way, and survey the haunted paths. They looked peaceful enough in the clear cold light. There was a little clump of tall trees at the corner where Ash Lane broke off from the Common, and then there was nothing but hedge- rows and a few thin saplings all down the lane to the old carthouse. There were no gnarled stumps to cast weird shadows on a moonlight night, or to loom into undue prominence on a misty one. Even the hedgerow was rather lower than is common, and thin and straggling into the bargain, for the land thereabouts was rather poor. Presently Frank stood in front of the ruined carthouse and looked round. : He thought he could make out where his brother had fallen. It was on his right hand as he stood there—at that side of the cart- house nearest to Ravenscourt. ‘The earth was heavily trampled, and some tall weeds lay broken and dead. He turned and looked in the other direction. How very poor the hedge was! Why, it almost seemed as if there had once been an COMMICHOOKS. EO