I do not know that anything essential has been left unexplained." "He could not hope to frighten Sir Henry to death as he had done the old uncle with his bogie hound." "The beast was savage and half-starved.

If its appearance did not frighten its victim to death, at least it would paralyze the resistance which might be offered." "No doubt.

There only remains one difficulty.

If Stapleton came into the succession, how could he explain the fact that he, the heir, had been living unannounced under another name so close to the property?
How could he claim it without causing suspicion and inquiry ?" "It is a formidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too much when you expect me to solve it.

The past and the present are within the field of my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question to answer.