These had once been plastered and papered, but the wall-paper had all faded into dull, neutral tints and in one of the rooms a big patch of plaster had fallen away from the ceiling, showing the bare lath.

Only one of the upstairs rooms had ever been furnished, and it now contained a corded wooden bedstead, a cheap pine table and one broken-legged chair.

Indeed, the main building, which I have briefly described, had not been in use for many years.

Sometimes, when Captain Wegg was alive, he would build a log fire in the great fireplace on a winter's evening and sit before it in silent mood until far into the night.

And once, when his young wife had first occupied the new house, the big room had acquired a fairly cosy and comfortable appearance.