Full of charming lights
and shadows and populous with pleasant-voiced
birds, the neglected shade trees no longer struggled
to run away, but bent reverently beneath their bur-
den of sun and song. Even in the glassless upper
windows was an expression of peace and content-
ment, due to the light within. Over the stony fields
the visible heat danced with a lively tremor incom-
patible with the gravity which is an attribute of the
supernatural.
Such was the aspect under which the place pre-
sented itself to Sheriff Adams and two other men
who had come out from Marshall to look at it. One
of these men was Mr. King, the sheriff's deputy;
the other, whose name was Brewer, was a brother
of the late Mrs. Manton. Under a beneficent law of
the State relating to property which had been for
a certain period abandoned by an owner whose
residence cannot be ascertained, the sheriff was legal
custodian of the Manton farm and appurtenances
thereunto belonging. His present visit was in mere
perfunctory compliance with some order of a court
in which Mr. Brewer had an action to get possession
of the property as heir to his deceased sister. By a
mere coincidence, the visit was made on the day
after the night that Deputy King had unlocked the
house for another and very different purpose. His
presence now was not of his own choosing: he
had been ordered to accompany his superior, and
at the moment could think of nothing more pru-
dent than simulated alacrity in obedience to the
command.
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