That's what he says himself, in his queer way. Miss
Gertrude and her governess live in three handsome rooms in the south
wing--my lady's own rooms--and the principal way to these rooms is
along a wide corridor. So what does the captain do when my lady goes
away, but order a great iron door down from London, and has the
corridor shut off with this iron door, bolted, and locked, and barred,
so that the cleverest burglar that ever were couldn't get it open."
"But how do people get to the little girl's rooms, then?" asked Thomas
Milsom.
"Why, through a small bed-room, intended for Lady Eversleigh's maid;
and a little bit of a dressing-room, that poor Sir Oswald used to keep
his boots, and hat-boxes, and such like in. These rooms open on to the
second staircase; and what does the captain do but have these two small
rooms fitted up for hisself and his servant, Solomon Grundy, with a
thin wooden partition, with little glass spy-holes in it, put across
the two rooms, to make a kind of passage to the rooms beyond; so that
night and day he can hear every footstep that goes by to Miss
Gertrude's rooms. Now, what do you think of such whims and fancies?"
"I think the captain must be stark staring mad," answered Milsom; but
it was to be observed that he said this in rather an absent manner, and
appeared to be thinking deeply.
"Oh no, he ain't," said James Harwood; "there ain't a sharper customer
going.
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