iately above the floor of the house which is
occupied by Miss Carmina and her nurse. Having some little matters of
my own to settle, I was late in taking possession of my room. Before the
lights on the staircase were put out, I took the liberty of looking down
at the next landing.

"Do you remember, when you were a child learning to write, that one
of the lines in your copy-books was, 'Virtue is its own reward'? This
ridiculous assertion was actually verified in my case! Before I had been
five minutes at my post, I saw the nurse open her door. She looked up
the staircase (without discovering me, it is needless to say), and she
looked down the staircase--and, seeing nobody about, returned to her
rooms.

"Waiting till I heard her lock the door, I stole downstairs, and
listened outside.

"One of my two fellow-lodgers (you know that I don't believe in Miss
Carmina's illness) was lighting a fire--on such a warm autumn night,
that the staircase window was left open! I am absolutely sure of what I
say: I heard the crackle of burning wood--I smelt coal smoke.

"The motive of this secret proceeding it seems impossible to guess at.
If they were burning documents of a dangerous and compromising kind,
a candle would have answered their purpose. If they wanted hot water,
surely a tin kettle and a spirit lamp must have been at hand in an
invalid's bedroom? Perhaps, your superior penetration may be able to
read the riddle which baffles my ingenuity.

"So much for the first night.

"This afternoon, I had some talk with the landlady. My professional
avocations having trained me in the art of making myself agreeable
to the sex, I may say without vanity that I produced a favourable
impression. In other words, I contrived to set my fair friend talking
freely about the old nurse and the interesting invalid.

"Out of the flow of words poured on me, one fact of very serious
importance has risen to the surface. There is a suspicious canister in
the nurse's possession. The landlady calls the powder inside, medicine.
I say, poison.

"Am I rushing at a fanciful conclusion? Please wait a little.

"During the week of delay which elapsed, before the lodger in possession
vacated my room, you kindly admitted me to an interview. I ventured
to put some questions, relating to Teresa's life in Italy and to the
persons with whom she associated. Do you remember telling me, when I
asked what you knew of her husband, that he was foreman in a manufa