The Argosy — page 275: what you’re looking at

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

254 Mrs. Raven’s Temptation. every day, but the last conversation I had with him was when I dined here while you were all away. He was quite facetious—for him. He almost offended me.” - And Mr. Toynbee suddenly looked grave. But it was not at the remembrance of Leonard’s puerile jests at an old bachelor’s inquisi- tive questions concerning the new young lady companion, Evelyn Agate. It was at the recollection of that problem in which those questions had really originated, which had haunted him since he first saw Evelyn, and of that most unexpected solution which he believed he had received on the night when he met her and Charity Hale in Eldred Sloam’s cottage. Mr. Toynbee would never lightly ask another question concerning Evelyn Agate’s antecedents. ‘It has been most unfortunate that your brother’s attack should come on at such a time, Frank, and under such circumstances. You cannot imagine in what a state the neighbourhood has been thrown. It was at fever-heat after Sloam’s accident, and the Squire’s misfortune has broken down all reserve on the subject.” Frank looked up at the Vicar. It was hard not to tell him his whole story. ‘‘ What is your explanation of the matter, sir?” asked the young man, after a pause. ‘You are not asking me whether or not I believe in the ghosts, are you?” said Mr. Toynbee, with a little dry laugh. ‘But, don’t you think my brother must have seen something ?” The Vicar glanced at him. ‘‘ There is the doctor’s explanation of excitement, bringing on the latent disease. Your brother had similar fits in infancy ; we must rest content with that if we can get at nothing better.” | ‘‘T could rest content with it, so far as regards himself. I cannot with the theory that it is only imagination which has been at work in all the other cases,” answered Frank. ‘‘ May it not suit some ill- designing person or persons to dress up and play the farce for a purpose P” “T thought of that, too,” answered the Vicar. ‘ But then, who could it be? ‘The only person at all likely to indulge in nefarious tricks, or to tempt others to such a trick, is Eldred Sloam himself : and it could not have been he whom your brother saw, for he had been leg-fast to his bed since days before. Unless, indeed, he was shamming very skilfully.” ‘You see there is little unnatural or portentous in the alleged appearances themselves,” laughed Frank: ‘‘no horns or hoofs, or phosphoric lights.” And he told the story of Alice Cleare’s walk from Gerstowe, and his accidental meeting with her on that occasion after leaving the Vicar’s own dinner table, and of the figure which had scared her. Mr. Toynbee listened attentively. Frank continued. ‘What I want to know is, at what point did the notion creep in that this mysterious figure is anything else than an ordinary prowler. I want CORMICLOIOO KS, EO)