CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
SHARKS BY LAND AND WATER.
Mr Brandram's abrupt summons to Mr Armstrong was not due to the reappearance on the scene of the mysterious Robert Ratman.

It was, in fact, at the instance of Miss Rosalind Oliphant that the doctor sent his message.
That young lady had returned a week ago to find everything at Maxfield awry.

Her father was gloomy, mysterious, and haggard.

The rumour of Mr Ratman's extraordinary claims had become the common property of the village.

Roger and his tutor were away, no one exactly knew where or on what errand.
On the day following her return she walked across from the Vicarage to visit her father.
He sat in the library, abstracted, pale, and limp.