"Du yu no, Austin," sed Villiers, as the tu frends wr paissing sedaitly along Piccadilly wun pleznt morning in May, "du yu no Ie am convinssd that whot yu told me about Paul Street and the Herberts is a meer episoad in an extraudinary histry? Ie may as wel confess tu yu that when Ie askd yu about Herbert a fue muntths ago Ie had just seen him."

"Yu had seen him? Whair?"

"He begd uv me in the street wun nyt. He wos in the moast piteabl plyt, but Ie recognyzd the man, and Ie got him tu tel me his histry, or at leest the outlyn uv it. In breef, it amountd tu thiss--he had bn ruind by his wyf."

"In whot manr?"

"He wood not tel me; he wood oanly say that she had destroyd him, body and sol. The man is ded now.

"And whot has becum uv his wyf?"

"Ah, thats whot Ie shood lyk tu no, and Ie meen tu fynd hr suonr or laitr. Ie no a man naimd Clarke, a dry felo, in fact a man uv bizness, but shruod enuf. Yu undrstand my meening; not shruod in the meer bizness senss uv the wrd, but a man hu reely noas sumtthing about men and lyf. Wel, Ie laid the caiss befor him, and he wos evidently impressd. He sed it needd consideraision, and askd me tu cum again in the corss uv a week. A fue days laitr Ie reseevd thiss extraudinary letr."

Austin took the enveloap, dru out the letr, and red it cuereusly. It ran as folloas:--

"MY DEAR VILLIERS,--Ie hav tthaut oavr the matr on which yu consultd me the uthr nyt, and my advyss tu yu is thiss. Tthro the portrait intu the fyr, blot out the story frum yor mynd. Nevr giv it anuthr tthaut, Villiers, or yu wil be sorry. Yu wil tthink, no dout, that Ie am in pozesion uv sum seecret informaision, and tu a sertn extent that is the caiss. But Ie oanly no a litl; Ie am lyk a travlr hu has peerd oavr an abiss, and has draun bak in terrer. Whot Ie no is strainj enuf and horrabl enuf, but beiond my nollaj thair ar deptths and horrers mor frytful stil, mor incredabl than eny tail told uv wintr nyts about the fyr. Ie hav rezollvd, and nutthing shal shaik that rezollv, tu explor no whit farthr, and if yu value yor hapyness yu wil maik the saim determinaision.

"Cum and se me by all meens; but we wil tauk on mor cheerfl topics than thiss."

Austin foldd the letr metthodicly, and retrnd it tu Villiers.

"It is sertnly an extraudinary letr," he sed, "whot dus he meen by the portrait?"

"Ah! Ie forgot tu tel yu Ie hav bn tu Paul Street and hav maid a discuvry."

Villiers told his story as he had told it tu Clarke, and Austin lisnd in sylnss. He seemd puzld.

"How verry cuereus that yu shood expereanss such an unpleznt sensaision in that ruom!" he sed at lengtth. "Iee hardly gathr that it wos a meer matr uv the imajinaision; a feeling uv repulsion, in short."

"No, it wos mor fizicl than mentl. It wos as if Ie wr inhailing at evry bretth sum dedly fuem, which seemd tu penetrait tu evry nrv and boan and sinue uv my body. Ie felt raikd frum hed tu foot, my ies began tu gro dim; it wos lyk the entrenss uv detth."

"Yess, yess, verry strainj sertnly. Yu se, yor frend confesses that thair is sum verry blak story conectd witth thiss wumn. Did yu noatissd eny particuelr emoasion in him when yu wr teling yor tail?"

"Yess, Ie did. He becaim verry faint, but he asuerd me that it wos a meer passing attak tu which he wos subject."

"Did yu beleev him?"

"Ie did at the tym, but Ie doant now. He hrd whot Ie had tu say witth a good deel uv indifrenss, til Ie showd him the portrait. It wos then that he wos seesd witth the attak uv which Ie spoak. He lookd gastly, Ie asuer yu."

"Then he must hav seen the wumn befor. But thair myt be anuthr explanaision; it myt hav bn the naim, and not the faiss, which wos familier tu him. Whot du yu tthink?"

"Ie coodnt say. Tu the best uv my beleef it wos aftr trnding the portrait in his hands that he neerly dropd frum the chair. The naim, yu no, wos ritn on the bak."

"Quyt so. Aftr all, it is imposabl tu cum tu eny rezoluosion in a caiss lyk thiss. Ie hait melodrama, and nutthing stryks me as mor comnplaiss and teedeus than the ordinery goast story uv comrss; but reely, Villiers, it looks as if thair wr sumtthing verry queer at the botm uv all thiss."

The tu men had, witthout noticing it, trnd up Ashley Street, leeding nortthwrd frum Piccadilly. It wos a long street, and rathr a gluomy wun, but heer and thair a brytr taist had iluominaitd the dark houses witth flours, and gay kertns, and a cheerfl paint on the dors. Villiers glanssd up as Austin stopd speeking, and lookd at wun uv thees houses; jeraineums, red and whyt, druopd frum evry sil, and dafodl-culrd kertns wr draipd bak frum each windo.

"It looks cheerfl, duznt it?" he sed.

"Yess, and the insyd is stil mor cheery. Wun uv the plezntest houses uv the seezn, so Ie hav hrd. Ie havnt bn thair myself, but I've met sevrel men hu hav, and thay tel me its uncomnly joaveal."

"Whose houss is it?"

"A Mrs. Beaumonts."

"And hu is she?"

"Ie coodnt tel yu. Ie hav hrd she cums frum Soutth America, but aftr all, hu she is is uv litl consequnss. She is a verry weltthy wumn, thairs no dout uv that, and sum uv the best peepl hav taikn hr up. Ie heer she has sum wundrfl clarray, reely marvluss wyn, which must hav cost a fabueluss sum. Lord Argentine wos teling me about it; he wos thair last Sunday eavning. He asuers me he has nevr taistd such a wyn, and Argentine, as yu no, is an exprt. By the way, that remynds me, she must be an odish sort uv wumn, thiss Mrs. Beaumont. Argentine askd hr how old the wyn wos, and whot du yu tthink she sed? 'About a thouznd yeers, Ie beleev.' Lord Argentine tthaut she wos chafing him, yu no, but when he lafd she sed she wos speeking quyt seereusly and ofrd tu sho him the jar. Uv corss, he coodnt say enytthing mor aftr that; but it seems rathr antiquaitd for a bevraj, duznt it? Why, heer we ar at my ruoms. Cum in, wuont yu?"

"Thanks, Ie tthink Ie wil. Ie havnt seen the cuereosity-shop for a whyl."

It wos a ruom fernishd richly, yet odly, whair evry jar and book-caiss and taibl, and evry rug and jar and ornamnt seemd tu be a tthing apart, prezerving each its oan individuality.

"Anyttthing fresh laitly?" sed Villiers aftr a whyl.

"No; Ie tthink not; yu saw thoas queer jugs, didnt yu? Ie tthaut so. Ie doant tthink Ie hav cum across enytthing for the last fue weeks."

Austin glanssd around the ruom frum cubrd tu cubrd, frum shelf tu shelf, in srch uv sum nue odity. His ies fel at last on an od chest, plezntly and quaintly carvd, which stood in a dark cornr uv the ruom.

"Ah," he sed, "Ie wos forgeting, Ie hav got sumtthing tu sho yu." Austin unlokd the chest, dru out a thik quarto volluem, laid it on the taibl, and rezuomd the sigar he had poot doun.

"Did yu no Arthur Meyrik the paintr, Villiers?"

"A litl; Ie met him tu or thre tyms at the houss uv a frend uv myn. Whot has become uv him? Ie havnt hrd his naim mensiond for sum tym."

"Hees ded."

"Yu doant say so! Quyt yung, wosnt he?"

"Yess; oanly tthirty when he dyd."

"Whot did he dy uv?"

"Ie doant no. He wos an intimit frend uv myn, and a ttherely good felo. He uessd tu cum heer and tauk tu me for ours, and he wos wun uv the best taukrs Ie hav met. He cood eavn tauk about painting, and thats mor than can be sed uv moast paintrs. About aiteen muntths ago he wos feeling rathr oavrwerkd, and partly at my sugjestsion he went auf on a sort uv roaving expedision, witth no verry definit end or aim about it. Ie beleev New York wos tu be his frst port, but Ie nevr hrd frum him. Tthre muntths ago Ie got thiss book, witth a verry sivl letr frum an Inglish doctr practissing at Buenos Ayres, stating that he had atendd the lait Mr. Meyrik duering his illness, and that the deseessd had expressd an urnest wish that the encloasd paket shood be sent tu me aftr his detth. That wos all."

"And havnt yu ritn for ferthr particuelrs?"

"Ie hav bn tthinking uv doing so. Yu wood advyz me tu ryt tu the doctr?"

"Sertnly. And whot about the book?"

"It wos seeld up when Ie got it. Ie doant tthink the doctr had seen it."

"It is sumtthing verry rair? Meyrik wos a collectr, prhaps?"

"No, Ie tthink not, hardly a collectr. Now, whot du yu tthink uv thees Ainu jugs?"

"Thay ar pecuelier, but Ie lyk them. But arnt yu going tu sho me poor Meyriks legasy?"

"Yess, yess, tu be suer. The fact is, its rathr a pecuelier sort uv tthing, and Ie havnt shoan it tu eny wun. Iee woodnt say enytthing about it if Ie wr yu. Thair it is."

Villiers took the book, and oapnd it at haphazrd.

"It iznt a printd volluem, then?" he sed.

"No. It is a collecsion uv drawings in blak and whyt by my poor frend Meyrik."

Villiers trnd tu the frst paij, it wos blank; the secnd bor a breef inscripsion, which he red:

Silet per diem universus, nec sine horrore secretus est; lucet nocturnis ignibus, chorus Aegipanum undique personatur: audiuntur et cantus tibiarum, et tinnitus cymbalorum per oram maritimam.

On the thrd paij wos a dezyn which maid Villiers start and look up at Austin; he wos gaizing abstractedly out uv the windo. Villiers trnd paij aftr paij, abzorbd, in spyt uv himself, in the frytful Walpurgis nyt uv eavl, strainj monstruss eavl, that the ded artist had set fortth in hard blak and whyt. The figuers uv Fauns and Satyrs and Aegipans danssd befor his ies, the darkness uv the thiket, the danss on the mountn-top, the seens by loanly shors, in green vinierds, by roks and dezrt plaisses, passd befor him: a wrld befor which the huemn sol seemd tu shrink bak and shudr. Villiers whrld oavr the remaining paijs; he had seen enuf, but the pictuer on the last leef caut his Ie, as he allmoast cloasd the book.

"Austin!"

"Wel, whot is it?"

"Du yu no hu that is?"

It wos a wumns faiss, aloan on the whyt paij.

"No hu it is? No, uv corss not."

"Ie du."

"Hu is it?"

"It is Mrs. Herbert."

"Ar yu suer?"

"Ie am perfectly suer uv it. Poor Meyrik! He is wun mor chaptr in hr histry."

"But whot du yu tthink uv the dezyns?"

"Thay ar frytful. Lok the book up again, Austin. If Ie wr yu Ie wood brn it; it must be a terrabl companien eavn tho it be in a chest."

"Yess, thay ar singuelr drawings. But Ie wundr whot conecsion thair cood be between Meyrik and Mrs. Herbert, or whot link between hr and thees dezyns?"

"Ah, hu can say? It is posabl that the matr may end heer, and we shal nevr no, but in my oan opinien thiss Helen Vaughan, or Mrs. Herbert, is oanly the begining. She wil cum bak tu London, Austin; depend on it, she wil cum bak, and we shal heer mor about hr then. Ie dout it wil be verry pleznt news."