The Spider

by Fergus Hume

"And now," said Vernon glancing northward to where the cyclopean wall of the dam frowned in the sunlight, "if that great body of water were let loose both the village and the Hall would be swept away."

"They are certainly directly in the line of flood," replied Towton unhesitatingly; "but both the Hall and the village houses are strongly built of dark stone. It would take some force to smash them."

"If that dam broke, Colonel, they would be swept away like straws on the surface of a whirlpool. I can't understand what the engineers were thinking about to risk such a catastrophe."

Towton laughed. "Pooh, pooh! Nothing is likely to happen. But now that I rule here I intend to see if some outlet cannot be arranged other than down the valley, so that all risk may be done away with. I objected to the dam from the first, although I admit that it is a work which is of great public utility and supplies Bowderstyke, Gatehead, and the other villages. But it spoils my view and also is dangerous, as you observe. However, we have talked enough on this dull subject. Let us descend and pay a visit to Gerby Hall. Miss Hest will be expecting us."

"And Ida," laughed Vernon with a side glance at the suddenly-flushed cheek of the soldier.

They descended by the winding road into the valley, and after pausing to glance up the valley, where the massive wall of the dam cut short the view, proceeded slowly towards the village. It was a collection of small dark houses built of moss-clothed grey stones, and looked like a colony of dwarf buildings. But the men and women who dwelt therein were tall and burly enough, and the children seemed to be well-grown. Besides the dwellings there were also two mills, the wheels of which were driven by water in a very powerful fashion. The few shops were dark and uninviting, and the chief street narrow and crooked. Secluded as it was from the sun--which never warmed the village with its beams save at noonday--it did not appear to be a desirable residence. But the inhabitants seemed cheerful enough, and frequently greeted the Colonel with gruff amiability, although he was not their landlord. That position, as Towton had informed his guest, belonged to Hest, or rather--since he had expatriated himself--to his sister.

Crossing the curved stone bridge which arched the dwindling torrent, the Colonel led his friend through several dismal streets until they emerged into an open space, to see before them a high wall built of irregular blocks of stone, covered with mosses and grasses and lichen. The massive wooden gates, which afforded entrance into the domain, stood wide open, indicating, like the doors of the Janus temple, that the Hests were at peace with their neighbours. Passing through these the visitors walked up a gloomy avenue, where the branches of the trees met overhead, and came unexpectedly upon a square stone house, the appearance of which was similar to that of the encircling wall. There were absolutely no pretensions to architectural beauty, and the mansion looked as though it had grown out of the damp, fecund ground, where rank grasses grew in profusion. Above was the slightly sloping bank of the moorland, which here was almost perpendicular, and it threw a heavy shade over the frowning dwelling, which suited its grim looks. It was two storey, with twelve windows in the front, six on either side, and three in each storey. In the centre was the door, without a porch and without steps. Only a broad flagstone formed the threshold. The trees grew up nearly to this, and there was merely a narrow gravelled path between the luxuriant grasses and the walls of the house. So amazingly dismal a dwelling Vernon had never set eyes on, and he uttered an exclamation when he beheld the desolation.

"It's the very worst place Ida could have come to," he said in high displeasure. "What could Miss Hest have been thinking of, to ask her to live in this vault."

"Ah, she will be better up on the heights in my Italian villa, Vernon."

"That is if she will come," remarked the other gloomily, for the sombre situation and ascetic looks of the Hest mansion made his spirits sink to zero.