47291    We were admitted by a strange, wizened, rusty-coated old manservant, who seemed in keeping with the house.

47292    Inside, however, there were large rooms furnished with an elegance in which I seemed to recognize the taste of the lady.

47293    As I looked from their windows at the interminable granite-flecked moor rolling unbroken to the farthest horizon I could not but marvel at what could have brought this highly educated man and this beautiful woman to live in such a place.

47294    'Queer spot to choose, is it not?' said he, as if in answer to my thought.

47295    'And yet we manage to make ourselves fairly happy, do we not, Beryl?'

47296    'Quite happy,' said she, but there was no ring of conviction in her words.

47297    'I had a school,' said Stapleton.

47298    'It was in the north country.

47299    The work to a man of my temperament was mechanical and uninteresting, but the privilege of living with youth, of helping to mould those young minds and of impressing them with one's own character and ideals, was very dear to me.

47300    However, the fates were against us.

47301    A serious epidemic broke out in the school, and three of the boys died.

47302    It never recovered from the blow, and much of my capital was irretrievably swallowed up.

47303    And yet, if it were not for the loss of the charming companionship of the boys, I could rejoice over my own misfortune, for, with my strong tastes for botany and zoology, I find an unlimited field of work here, and my sister is as devoted to Nature as I am.

47304    All this, Dr Watson, has been brought upon your head by your expression as you surveyed the moor out of our window.'

47305    'It certainly did cross my mind that it might be a little dull - less for you, perhaps, than for your sister.'