from his
clothing, smoothed his hair, straightened his garments to conceal as
much of the damage to them as possible, and gratefully put on his coat,
which lay neatly folded on the floor, with his silk hat resting smugly
upon it. It required some courage to go out into the clear light of a
January morning in patent-leather pumps and wearing a silk hat. He would
find some one around the place from whom he could borrow a hat and get
the information he needed about the late tenants of this extraordinary
office. He looked at his watch. It was half-past seven. He had slept
later than he had realized. He had slept while Doris was in peril. The
reminder both appalled and steadied him.

With a last look around the dismantled room, he closed its door behind
him and went out into the winding hall. He hurried up and down its
length, poking his head into empty store-rooms and dusty offices, but
finding no sign of life.

At last a cheerful whistle in the lower regions drew him down a flight
of stairs to what appeared to be an underground store-room. Here a
bulky, overalled individual, looming large in the semi-darkness, stopped
in his labor of pushing about some boxes, and regarded Laurie with
surprise.

"Are you the watchman?" asked the latter, briskly.

"I am, that."

"Were you here last night?"

"I was."

"Was any one else here?"

"Divil a wan."

"Did you hear any noise during the night?"

"Divil a bit."

"Were you asleep?"

"I was," admitted the watchman, simply. His voice was Hibernian, and
rich with tolerant good humor.

"I want to make a trade with you." The new-comer held out his silk hat.
"Will you give me your hat, or any old hat you've got around the place,
for this?"

"I will," said the watchman calmly. Though good-humored, he seemed a man
of few words. "And who might you be?" he added.

"I came in last night with Mr. Shaw, and I spent the night here. When I
woke up," added Laurie drily, "I found that my host had moved."

The watchman sadly shook his head.

"You're a young lad," he said, with friendly sympathy. "'Tis a pity
you've got into these habits."

Laurie grinned at him. He had discovered that his money, like his watch,
was safe in his pockets. Taking out a bill, he showed it to his
companion.

"Do you like the looks of that?" he inquired.

"I do," admitted the watchman, warmly.

"Tell me all you know about Shaw, and take it for your trouble."

"I will," promptly agreed the other, "