"'Whose cottage is that?' I asked. 'It is not on this property, is it?'
"'Oh, no, sir, just off this land; it belongs to Mr Lenox.'
"'Lenox,' I breathlessly asked, 'Horace Lenox'?
"'That's it, sir--one of the nicest gentlemen in these parts, and a rare sportsman: it is not his own property, only hired on long lease, but he has done a deal to it; three thousand acres of good mixed shooting and capital fishing, with that cottage, is not dear at fifty pounds a year, is it, sir?'
"'I should think not, indeed. Mr Lenox is one of my oldest friends. I must go and call on him,' which I did.
"I was told, on asking at the door, that he was out fishing, but would be home to dinner at six o'clock.
"'Give him this card,' I said to the respectable old servant who had answered the ring, 'and tell him, I shall be here at six to dine with him. Is he married?'
"'Oh dear no, sir, master is a single gentleman. I don't think he cares much about the women folk,' she added, in her quaint Cornish way.
"The time hung heavily on my hands that day, so impatient was I to see my dear, valued old friend, and half past five saw me walking up the well-kept walk towards his house.
"As I approached, a figure issued from the porch, surrounded by four or five beautiful setters.
"A fine, handsome-looking man of three or four and forty advanced towards me, but quite grey; there was no mistaking, though, his honest, beaming, well-known face.
"'Frederick, old fellow,' said he, grasping me by the hand, 'this is indeed kind of you; hundreds of times have I wondered what had become of you, and if you were still in the land of the living.'
"'And I the same, Lenox; by mere chance have I found you out. I inquired at all the old haunts when I returned to England, and could never learn where you were.'
"'Then you are the gentleman, I suppose, that has been looking at the estate next to me, with a view to purchase?'
"'You could not do better, old fellow; I will put you in the way. I know every inch of the ground--rare shooting--but come in, and I will tell you all about it after dinner. Margaret, my servant, is in the devil's own way, for it is rarely I ever have any one to dine with me.'
"The inside of the cottage was just as pretty as the outside; his dining-room was a study for a sportsman: guns, rods, sporting pictures, &c., here hung all round the walls in endless profusion; it was the very essence of comfort and taste.