As upon the previous evening, Dorothy and Mr. Henley dined alone, although Ah Ben, appearing just before they had finished, partook of a little dry lettuce and a small cup of coffee. Dorothy, as usual, ate most sparingly, “scarcely enough,” as Paul remarked, “to keep the parrot alive.”
After dinner they went together into the great hall, where Ah Ben prepared a pipe apiece for himself and his guest.
The logs were piled high upon the hearth, and the cheery blaze lit up the old pictures with a shimmering lustre, reducing the lamp to a mere spectral ornament. It was the flickering firelight that made the men and women on the walls nod at each other, as perhaps they had done in life.
They seated themselves in the spacious old leather-covered pew; Ah Ben and Dorothy upon one side, while Paul sat opposite. The men were soon engaged with their pipes, while Miss Guir had settled herself upon a pile of cushions in the corner nearest the chimney.
“You have been absent from home to-day, I believe,” said Henley to the old man, by way of opening the conversation, and with the hope of eliciting an answer which would throw some light upon his habits.
“Yes,” Ah Ben replied, blowing a volume of smoke from under his long, white moustache; “I seldom pass the entire day in this house. There are few things that give me more pleasure than roaming alone through the forest. One seems to come in closer touch with first principles. Nature, Mr. Henley, must be courted to be comprehended.”
“I suppose so,” answered Paul, not knowing what else to say, and wondering at the man's odd method of passing the time.
A long silence followed after this, only interrupted at intervals by guttural mutterings from the parrot, which seemed to be lodged somewhere in the upper regions of the obscure stairway. When the clock struck eleven, the bird shrieked out, as upon the previous night.
Miss Guir arose, and saying “Good night,” left Ah Ben and Mr. Henley to themselves.
“I am afraid I have been very stupid,” said the old man, apologetically; “indeed, I must have fallen asleep, as it is my habit to take a nap in the early evening, after which I am more wide awake than at any other hour.”
“Not at all,” answered Paul, “I have been enjoying my pipe, and as Miss Guir seemed disposed to be quiet, think I must have been nodding myself.”