Berry And Co. eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 363 pages of information about Berry And Co..

Berry And Co. eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 363 pages of information about Berry And Co..

The object of our visit was, of course, to learn from the board in whose hands the property had been placed for sale.  But we had decided that, if it were possible, we must effect an entrance, to see whether the turf about the sundial had been disturbed.  Moreover, if we could get Adele inside, it would be highly interesting to see whether she recognized the place.

Wired on to the mouldering gates, a weather-beaten board glared at us.

FREEHOLD
with immediate possession
TO BE SOLD
This Very Desirable
OLD-WORLD MANSION
Standing in three acres of pleasure grounds
And only requiring certain structural repairs
To be made an ideal modern residence. 
F. R. MILLER, Estate Agent, High St., Brooch.

Considering that the house had been gutted nearly twenty years ago, and had stood as the fire had left it from then until now, the advertisement was euphemistic.

By dint of peering between the corrupted bars, it was possible to see for ourselves the desolation.  A press of nettles crowded about the scorched and blackened walls, square gaping mouths, that had been windows, showed from the light within that there was no roof, while here and there charred timbers thrust their unsightly way from out of a riot of brambles, wild and disorderly.  What we could see of the garden was a very wilderness.  Tall rank grass flourished on every side, carriage-way and borders alike had been blotted into a springing waste, and the few sprawling shrubs which we could recognize hardly emerged from beneath the choking smother of luxuriant bindweed.

The gates were chained and padlocked.  But they were not difficult to scale, and in a moment Berry and I were over and standing knee-deep in the long wet grass.

Stealthily we made our way to the back of the house....

The sundial was just visible.  The grass of what had once been a trim lawn rose up about the heavy pedestal, coarse and tumultuous.  But it was untouched.  No foot of man or beast had trodden it—­lately, at any rate.

Simultaneously we heaved sighs of relief.

Then—­

“Adele’ll never recognize this,” said Berry.  “It’s hopeless.  What she saw was a lawn, not a prairie.”  I nodded.  “Still,” he went on, “there used to be a door in the wall—­on the east side.”  As he spoke, he turned and looked sharply at the haggard building.  “Thought I heard something,” he added.

“Did you?”

I swung on my heel, and together we stared and listened.  Eyes and ears alike went unrewarded.  The silence of desolation hung like a ragged pall, gruesome and deathly....

Without a word we passed to the east of the ruin.  After a little we came to the door in the wall.  Here was no lock, and with a little patience we drew the bolts and pulled the door open.  It gave on to a little lane, which ran into the by-road at a point close to where the others were waiting.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
Berry And Co. from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.