CHAPTER V.
The sun was high over the head of Hindscarth, but a fresh breeze was blowing from the north, and the walk to the Ghyll was bracing. Mr. Bonnithorne talked little on the way, but Hugh Ritson's spirits rose sensibly, and he chatted cheerfully on indifferent subjects. It was still some minutes short of nine o'clock when they reached the house. The servants were bustling about in clean aprons and caps.
"Have the gentlemen arrived?" asked Hugh.
"Not yet, sir," answered one of the servants—it was old Dinah Wilson.
The two men stepped up to Hugh Ritson's room. There the table was spread for breakfast. The lawyer glanced at the chairs, and said:
"Then you have invited other friends?"
Hugh nodded his head, and sat down at the organ.
"Three or four neighbors of substance," he said, opening the case. "In a matter like this it is well to have witnesses."
Bonnithorne replied with phlegm: