Butwe\'vegottostayheretonight，nomatterwhocomesordoesn\'tcome，andwe\'vegottobekeerfulinspeakin\'tothewomanofthehouse。Ifsheisonekindofaperson，wecanoffertopayforlodgin\'sandhorse-feed；butifsheisanotherkind，wemuststeerclearofmentionin\'pay，foritwillmakeherangry。Youhadbetterleavetheexplainin\'businesstome。\"
IwasabouttoreplythatIwasmorethanwillingtodosowhenthedooropenedandapersonentered——evidentlythemistressofthehouse。Shewastallandthin，pastmiddleage，andplainlydressed。Herpalecountenanceworeadefiantlook，andbehindherspectaclesblazedapairofdarkeyes，which，afteraninstant\'ssurveyofhervisitors，werefixedsteadilyuponme。Shemadebutastepintotheroom，andstoodholdingthedoor。Webothrosefromourchairs。
\"Youcansitdownagain，\"shesaidsharplytome。\"Idon\'twantyou。Now，sir，\"shecontinued，turningtoUncleBeamish，\"pleasecomewithme。\"
UncleBeamishgaveaglanceofsurpriseatme，butheimmediatelyfollowedtheoldladyoutoftheroom，andthedoorwasclosedbehindthem。
Fortenminutes，atleast，Isatquietlywaitingtoseewhatwouldhappennext——verymuchsurprisedattheremarkthathadbeenmadetome，andwonderingatUncleBeamish\'sprotractedabsence。Suddenlyheenteredtheroomandclosedthedoor。