At Love's Cost

But presently, almost suddenly, Stafford came in sight of the

magnificent iron gates, and he forgot his father and the talkative

commercial traveller, and his interest in the girl of the dale flashed

back upon him with full force. He saw that the gates were chained and

locked, and, with a natural curiosity, he followed the road beside the

wall. It stopped almost abruptly and gave place to a low railing which

divided the lawn in front of the house from the park beyond; and the

long irregular facade of the old building was suddenly revealed.