y all watched him with fascinated eyes. It was
something to escape from their thoughts. They leaned over as he spread the
book out before him. Those first two sentences were almost in the light of
a dedication:

"For ten years I have protected my master, Professor Edgar
Ashleigh, at the cost of my peace of mind, my happiness, my
reputation. This book, even though it be too late to help me,
shall clear my reputation."

Quest closed the volume.

"French," he decided, "we must find the Professor. Will you have your men
search the house and grounds immediately?"

The Inspector left the room like a dazed man. They could hear him giving
orders outside.

"The next page," Lenora begged. "Just one page more!"

Quest hesitated for a moment. Then he turned it over. All three read
again:

"Ten years of horror, struggling all the while to keep him from
that other self, that thing of bestiality, to keep his horrible
secret from the world, to cover up his crimes, even though their
shadow should rest upon me. Now Sanford Quest has come. Will
this mean discovery?"

"Another page," Lenora faltered.

"No more," Quest said. "Don't you see where it is leading us? We have the
truth here. Wait!"

He strode hastily to the door. French and one of the plain-clothes men
were descending the stairs.

"Well?" Quest asked breathlessly.

"The Professor is not in the house," French reported. "We are going to
search the grounds."

Quest returned to the library. Lenora clung to his arm. The diary lay
still upon the table.

Quest opened the volume slowly. Again they all read together:

"The evil nature is growing stronger every day. He is developing
a sort of ferocious cunning to help him in his crimes. He
wanders about in the dark, wearing a black velvet suit with
holes for his eyes, and leaving only his hands exposed. I have
watched him come into a half-darkened room and one can see
nothing but the hands and the eyes; sometimes if he closes his
eyes, only the hands."

"Mrs. Rheinholdt!" Quest muttered. "Wait. I know where that suit is."

He hastened to a cupboard at the farther end of the room, snatched some
garments from it and vanished into the hall.

"One moment, girls," he said. "I see now how he did it. Wait. I'll show
you."

They stood quite still, a little terrified. In a moment or two the door
reopened. A finger turned out all the electric lights but one.