Peter stopped in the door to the library and quietly asked Helen ;

-- Now precisely where do you want me to start ? It's going to be a much bigger job than I thought it would be.

The books stretched from floor to ceiling on all four sides of the room , their expanse broken only by the fireplace , and above that a space designed no doubt to hold a large painting .

-- First things first , said Helen.

-- I'd say we should get the floor space cleared . If we get the furnishings out into the main hall we can lay something down on the floor and pile the books there until the walls and shelves are cleaned .

-- We'll probably have to do a bit of cleaning up on the books themselves too , said Peter.

-- Do you know , I think that the first owner must have bought a lot of these as job lots. See, there's one lot , all with the same binding , and there's a few in between that are different , and then another lot all with exactly the same look about them. It seems to be the case round most of the walls .

-- You're probably right . I very much doubt if any of them have ever been taken down , either . I don't thing the family would have been studious readers. The whole thing was probably set up to make an impression -- to show how wealthy they were then .

-- Anyway , back to the job. Let's get this furniture out .

That proved to be no easy task . The furniture was solid and heavy as no doubt befitted the solemn air of the room itself . Helen was a willing worker in her lifting and moving of it , but even Peter , much stronger than she , had to make frequent pauses to get his breath . Even trying to manoeuvre the stuff through the door required a lot of lateral thinking to prevent any damage to the big table and the heavy chairs .

When it was all out , Helen slipped off the cloth she was wearing as a kerchief on her hair and wiped a perspiring brow.

-- Enough for now , she said . and plonked herself down on one of the chairs in the hall.

-- We're going to need some material to cover everything from the dust we make cleaning , and then to keep the books clean till we get them properly sorted . What I'll get you to do , Peter , is to go to that hardware store and get a big stock of plastic sheeting . We'll be able to use it as drop sheets when we get round to painting, too .

-- Have you got a tape measure to work out how much we 'll need ? asked Peter .

-- No . See if you can make a guestimate for now , and you can get a tape measure when you go to the store . It'll be useful later .

Peter paced out the room and worked out the yardage needed.

-- If I can get it rolled into a reasonable bundle , I'll carry it up with me in the morning . Otherwise they'll probably deliver it .

He added , laughing ,

-- They'd probably jump at the chance to see what's going on up here.

-- No doubt. I'll get some cash and you can get there before the store closes.

After she had been upstairs and come down with the cash for him , Peter said goodbye and walked to the lane . The afternoon drizzle had stopped , but the two constables on guard by the discovery still looked distinctly damp and dejected when Peter saluted them in passing .

Peter went straight to the hardware store and made his purchase , then found that he could carry the light plastic sheeting back with him to the George's house . Catching sight of Ernie , he went up to him and enquired about the nearest plant nursery , where he could get the more developed plants that Helen wanted.

-- Next village , said Ernie , tapping his teeth with the ever-present pencil .

-- Lot going on up at the manor , he said .

-- I've started a long poem about it . Not given it a name yet , though . Needs polishing too.

He thrust a paper at Peter , who took it reluctantly and read :

Through the woods galloped a happy Hound ,
scaring up the rabbits with every bound ,
sniffing the trees for his own special reasons
enjoying the changing smells through the seasons.

Chasing squirrels that he failed to catch
he stopped under a tree to have a good scratch .
Then he tried digging in the soft leaf strewn earth ,
digging and digging for all he was worth.

His front paws sank deep in the green forest sod ,
his other legs threw backwards large clod after clod.
Deeper and still deeper his diggings had grown
until there before him he uncovered some bone .

Alas it was not juicy , but old , yellow and dry .
And then he was startled by his young owner's cry .
Stop that at once ! you horrible hound !
It looks like a skeleton that you have found.

This walk in the woods is no longer for fun,
It's back to the police station that we must run.

-- Well on the way there, said Peter tactfully .

-- You must show me the completed version .

And he went to his room while Ernie sucked furiously on his pencil , looking for further inspiration .