The Prologue

I

Soon after sunrise, on a cloudy morning in the year 1881, a special
messenger disturbed the repose of Dennis Howmore, at his place of
residence in the pleasant Irish town of Ardoon.

Well acquainted apparently with the way upstairs, the man thumped on a
bed-room door, and shouted his message through it: "The master wants
you, and mind you don't keep him waiting."

The person sending this peremptory message was Sir Giles Mountjoy of
Ardoon, knight and banker. The person receiving the message was Sir
Giles's head clerk. As a matter of course, Dennis Howmore dressed
himself at full speed, and hastened to his employer's private house on
the outskirts of the town.

He found Sir Giles in an irritable and anxious state of mind. A letter
lay open on the banker's bed, his night-cap was crumpled crookedly on
his head, he was in too great a hurry to remember the claims of
politeness, when the clerk said "Good morning."

"Dennis, I have got something for you to do. It must be kept a secret,
and it allows of no delay."

"Is it anything connected with business, sir?"

The banker lost his temper. "How can you be such an infernal fool as to
suppose that anything connected with business could happen at this time
in the morning? Do you know the first milestone on the road to Garvan?"

"Yes, sir."