A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY
I Called softly to Grooton from my room upstairs.
"Grooton!"
"Yes, sir."
"You are alone?"
"Yes, sir."
"Is Mr. Hill still up at the Court?"
"He will be there until midnight, sir."
A gust of wind came suddenly roaring through the wood, drowning even the muffled thunder of the sea below. The rain beat upon the window panes. The little house, strongly built though it was, seemed to quiver from its very foundations. I caught up my overcoat, and boldly descended the narrow staircase. Grooton stood at the bottom, holding a lamp in his hand.
"You are quite safe to-night, sir," he said. "There'll be no one about in such a storm."
I stood still for a moment. The raging and tearing of the sea below had momentarily triumphed over the north wind.
"The trees in the spinne
