The miser’s thin lips quivered as his son turned to leave him.  He called faintly after him, “Anthony, Anthony!  Don’t leave me alone with the spirits of the dead.  To-morrow I will do you justice.  At this hour to-morrow.”

His son stopped, but the entrance of old Pike stifled the rising gleam of paternal regard, and dismissed the ghastly phantoms of the past from the excited mind of the gold-worshipper.  He grumbled a welcome to his minion, and sternly waved to the unwelcome intruder to quit the house.  His wishes were instantly obeyed.

CHAPTER XIX.

    Murder most foul hath been committed here,
    By thee committed—­for thy hand is red,
    And on thy pallid brow I see impress’d
    The mark of Cain.—­S.M.

A thrilling feeling of joy at having gained the object of his visit to Oak Hall, and obtained the means of wiping off the stain he so much dreaded from his character, was throbbing in the breast of Anthony Hurdlestone, as he reached, about nine o’clock in the evening, his nominal home.

He had sold his birthright for a mere trifle, but the loss of wealth weighed lightly in his estimation against the loss of honor.  On entering Frederic’s study, he found his cousin Godfrey and the ruffian Mathews awaiting his return.

Godfrey had dogged his steps to Ashton, had seen him enter the miser’s hovel, and from the length of his visit guessed rightly the cause.  His anxiety to know the result of this meeting induced him to return a part of the money he had the day before received from his cousin, which he had neither lost at play, as he had affirmed to Anthony, nor paid to the Jew the fictitious debt which he had declared was due to him.  These falsehoods had been planned by him and his base companion, in order to draw the unsuspecting young man into their toils, and bring about the rupture they desired with his father.

“My dear Anthony,” he said, shaking him heartily by the hand, as he rose to meet him.  “I have not enjoyed a moment’s peace since we parted this evening.  Here is half the sum you so kindly advanced, and if you can wait for a few days, I hope to have the rest ready for you.”

With a heavy sigh, Anthony received the notes from his cousin, and counting them over he locked them up in the desk, doubly rejoiced that he had the means of replacing the whole sum.

“You have been to Oak Hall,” said Godfrey, carelessly.  “How did the old place look?”

“I did not notice it.  My mind was too much agitated.  When I left you ruin stared me in the face; as a last desperate chance to free myself, I determined to visit my father, and request the loan of the money.”

“A daring move that,” said Godfrey, with a smile to his companion; “particularly after the rebuff you got from him, when you visited him on behalf of my poor father.  May I ask if you were successful?”