The Guilty River

Book excerpt: Gerard Roylake, returning from the continent to England to receive his in heritance, finds that one of his tenants a miller in the old mill on the banks of that dark, gloomy, repellant river, the Loke, has a lodger and a fair daughter. The lodger is a strange man, remarkably handsome, deaf, and an odd combination of knave and tool, the former characteristic predominating. It is from these picturesque elements, that Mr. Collins evolves his tragedy. The details of mystery are worked up in the author s skillful way. The denouement is a surprise. The question of heredity is finely handled.