From the night when Munro walked and talked with Mr. Harringford, no
person came spying round and about the Uninhabited House. Of this fact
we were satisfied, for Brenda, who gave tongue at the slightest murmur
wafted over the river from the barges lying waiting for the tide, never
barked as though she were on the track of living being; whilst the
collie--a tawny-black, unkempt, ill-conditioned, savage-natured, but yet
most true and faithful brute, which Munro insisted on keeping within
doors, never raised his voice from the day he arrived at River Hall,
till the night Mr. Harringford rang the visitor's-bell, when the animal,
who had been sleeping with his nose resting on his paws, lifted his head
and indulged in a prolonged howl.
Not a nice beginning to an interview which I dreaded.
14. A TERRIBLE INTERVIEW
I was in the library, waiting to receive Mr. Harringford. A bright fire
blazed on the hearth, the table was strewn with papers Munro had brought
to me from the office, the gas was all ablaze, and the room looked
bright and cheerful--as bright and as cheerful as if no ghost had been
ever heard of in connection with it.
At a few minutes past nine my visitor arrived. Mrs. Stott ushered him
into the library, and he entered the room evidently intending to shake
hands with me, which civility I affected not to notice.
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