Round the Fire Stories Read Online Free Page B

moved, though he was making strong efforts to conceal his agitation.
    â€œYes, yes, dear; it is all settled, it is all decided; in fact, there is no other possible way, that I can see.”
    â€œThere is one obvious way.”
    â€œNo, no, Evelyn, I shall never abandon you—never. It will come right—depend upon it; it will come right, and surely it looks like the interference of Providence that so perfect an instrument should be put into our hands.”
    My position was embarrassing, for I felt that for the instant they had forgotten my presence. But Lord Linchmere came back suddenly to me and to my engagement.
    â€œThe business for which I want you, Dr. Hamilton, is that you should put yourself absolutely at my disposal. I wish you to come for a short journey with me, to remain always at my side, and to promise to do without question whatever I may ask you, however unreasonable it may appear to you to be.”
    â€œThat is a good deal to ask,” said I.
    â€œUnfortunately I cannot put it more plainly, for I do not myself know what turn matters may take. You may be sure, however, that you will not be asked to do anything which your conscience does not approve; and I promise you that, when all is over, you will be proud to have been concerned in so good a work.”
    â€œIf it ends happily,” said the lady.
    â€œExactly; if it ends happily,” his lordship repeated.
    â€œAnd terms?” I asked.
    â€œTwenty pounds a day.”
    I was amazed at the sum, and must have showed my surprise upon my features.
    â€œIt is a rare combination of qualities, as must have struck you when you first read the advertisement,” said Lord Linchmere; “such varied gifts may well command a high return, and I do not conceal from you that your duties might be arduous or even dangerous. Besides, it is possible that one or two days may bring the matter to an end.”
    â€œPlease God!” sighed his sister.
    â€œSo now, Dr. Hamilton, may I rely upon your aid?”
    â€œMost undoubtedly,” said I. “You have only to tell me what my duties are.”
    â€œYour first duty will be to return to your home. You will pack up whatever you may need for a short visit to the country. We start together from Paddington Station at 3:40 this afternoon.”
    â€œDo we go far?”
    â€œAs far as Pangbourne. Meet me at the bookstall at 3:30. I shall have the tickets. Good-bye, Dr. Hamilton! And, by the way, there are two things which I should be very glad if you would bring with you, in case you have them. One is your case for collecting beetles and the other is a stick, and the thicker and heavier the better.”
    You may imagine that I had plenty to think of from the time that I left Brooke Street until I set out to meet Lord Linchmere at Paddington. The whole fantastic business kept arranging and rearranging itself in kaleidoscopic forms inside my brain, until I had thought out a dozen explanations, each of them more grotesquely improbable than the last. And yet I felt that the truth must be something grotesquely improbable also. At last I gave up all attempts at finding a solution, and contented myself with exactly carrying out the instructions which I had received. With a hand valise, specimen case, and a loaded cane, I was waiting at the Paddington bookstall when Lord Linchmere arrived. He was an even smaller man than I had thought—frail and peaky, with a manner which was more nervous than it had been in the morning. He wore a long, thick traveling ulster, and I observed that he carried a heavy blackthorn cudgel in his hand.
    â€œI have the tickets,” said he, leading the way up the platform. “This is our train. I have engaged a carriage, for I am particularly anxious to impress one or two things upon you while we travel down.”
    And yet all that he had to impress upon me might have been said in a sentence, for it was that I was to remember that I was there as a