And once, when his young wife had first occupied the
new house, the big room had acquired a fairly cosy and comfortable
appearance. But it had always been sparsely furnished, and most of the
decadent furniture that now littered it was useless and unlovely.
The big wooden lean-to at the back, and the right wing, were at this
time the only really habitable parts of the mansion. The lean-to had an
entrance from the living room, but Old Hucks and Nora his wife used the
back door entirely. It consisted of a large and cheerful kitchen and two
rooms off it, one used as a store room and the other as a sleeping
chamber for the aged couple.
The right wing was also constructed of cobble-stone, and had formerly
been Captain Wegg's own chamber. After his death his only child, Joe,
then a boy of sixteen, had taken possession of his father's room; but
after a day or two he had suddenly quitted the house where he was born
and plunged into the great outside world--to seek his fortune, it was
said. Decidedly there was no future for the boy here; in the cities
lurks opportunity.
When Ethel Thompson arrived in the early morning that followed her
interview with McNutt she rode her pony through the gap in the rail
fence, across the June grass, and around to the back door. On a bench
beside the pump an old woman sat shelling peas.
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