. Arthur Bonnicastle; . y the conversation in progress, the matter was putout of ray mind for a moment. Then it returned, and as I re-flected that Jenks had no business in that part of the house atthat hour, I became uneasy. We have quite forgotten Henry, I said; and we all roseto our feet and walked down stairs. Millie was at the foot in a twinkling, and exclaimed : *Why,he isnt here ! He is gone ! I said not a word, but went straight to the shutter was open, and there stood Henry before the pict-ure. He appeared to be entirely unconscious of my entrance;so, stepping up behi
. Arthur Bonnicastle; . y the conversation in progress, the matter was putout of ray mind for a moment. Then it returned, and as I re-flected that Jenks had no business in that part of the house atthat hour, I became uneasy. We have quite forgotten Henry, I said; and we all roseto our feet and walked down stairs. Millie was at the foot in a twinkling, and exclaimed : *Why,he isnt here ! He is gone ! I said not a word, but went straight to the shutter was open, and there stood Henry before the pict-ure. He appeared to be entirely unconscious of my entrance;so, stepping up behind him, I put my hand upon his shoulder,and said : Well, how do you like it ? He started as if I had struck him, trembled, and turned pale. The fact is, I got tired with Avaiting, my boy, he said, andso came in to explore, you know, ha ! ha ! ha ! Quite an oldcuriosity-shop, isnt it ? Oh ! * How do I like it ? Yes, quitea picture—quite a picture, ha! ha! ha ! There certainly was no likeness in the picture to the Henry. Stepping up behind hnn, I put my hand upon his,shouldei, and said: Well,how do you like it. (p. i86.) A^thur Bonnicastle, 187 who stood before it then. Haggard, vacant, convulsed withfeehng which it was impossible for him to conceal, he stood be-fore it as if fastened to the spot by a relentless spell. I tookhim by the arm and led him into the open air, with his hollow-sounding voice and his forced, mechanical laugh still ringing inmy ears. The girls were alarmed, and asked him if he were ill. Not in the least, he replied, with another attempt at alaugh which made me shiver. The quick instinct of his com-panions recognized the fact that something unpleasant had hap-pened, and so, overcoming the chill which his voice and man-ner had thrown upon them, they thanked me for showing themthe old house, and declared that it was time for them to gohome. Bidding me a hearty good-night, they started and wentout of the gate. Henry lingered, holding my hand for a mo-ment, a
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