fVVLDER'S HAJVD.
291
"Who is he?" I asked, speaking for the first time.
"I thought you had seen him before now," said Lake.
Ko I have, but quite alone, and without ever learning
"I
"Oh! He is the gentleman, Julius, for whom in the
will, under/which we take, those very odd provisions are
made —W^ch as I believe no one but a Wylder or a Bran-
don wouKjjnave dreamed of. It is an odd state of things
to hold one^fcstate under condition of letting a madman
wander about jk»ur house and place, making everybody in
it uncomfortable and insecure, and exposing him to the
imminent risk of making away with himself, either by ac-
cident or design. I happen to know what Mark Wylder
would have done — for he spoke very fiercely on the sub-
ject— perhaps he consulted you?"
"No."
"No? well, he intended locking him quietly into the
suite of three apartments, you know, at the far end of the
old gallery, and giving him full command of the mulberry
garden by the little private stair, and putting a good iron
door to it; so that " my beloved brother, Julius, at pres-
ent afflicted in mind" (Lake quoted the words of the will,
with an unpleasant sneer,) should have had his apartments
and his pleasure grounds quite to himself."
"And would that arrangement of Mr. Wylder's have
satisfied the conditions of the will?" said the Town
Clerk.
"I rather think, with proper precautions, it would.
Mark Wylder was very shrewd, and would not have run
himself into a fix," answered Lake. "I don't know any
man shrewder; he is, certainly."
And Lake looked at us, as he added these last words..
in turn, with a quick, suspicious glance, as if he had s:
something rash, and doubted whether we had observed it.;' ^