inhabitants, and that little argued no more than a close reserve

and a taste for solitude. The garden was conventual, the house had

the air of a prison. The green blinds were all drawn down upon the

outside; the door into the verandah was closed; the garden, as far

as he could see it, was left entirely to itself in the evening

sunshine. A modest curl of smoke from a single chimney alone

testified to the presence of living people.

In order that he might not be entirely idle, and to give a certain