ll exclaimed. 'By Jupiter, the
beggar's asleep. That's what comes of swotting too hard! Brady!'

"Approaching the chair he called again, 'Brady!' and getting no reply,
patted the figure gently on the back.

"'Be jabbers, you sleep soundly, old fellow!' he said. 'How about that!'
and he shook him heartily by the shoulder. The instant he let go the
figure collapsed. In order to get a closer view Hartnoll then struck a
light with the tinder box.

"The flickering of the candle flame fell on Brady's face. It was
white--ghastly white; there was no animation in it; the jaw dropped.

"With a cry of horror Hartnoll sprang back, and as he did so a great
yellow dog dashed across the hearth in front of him, whilst from
somewhere close at hand came a laugh--long, low and satirical. A cold
terror gripped Hartnoll, and for a moment or so he was on the verge of
fainting. However, hearing voices in the quadrangle, he pulled himself
together, approached the window on tiptoe, and, peering through the
glass, perceived to his utmost joy two of his friends directly beneath
him. 'I say, you fellows,' he called in low tones, 'come up here
quickly--Brady's rooms. I've seen the phantom dog. There's been another
tragedy, and the murderer is close at hand. Come quietly and we may
catch him!'

"He then retraced his steps to the centre of the room and listened.
Again there came the laugh--subtle, protracted, hellish--and it seemed
to him as if it must originate in the room overhead.

"A noise in the direction of the hearth made him look round. Some loose
plaster had fallen, and whilst he still gazed, more fell. The truth of
the whole thing then dawned on him. The murderer was in the chimney.

"Hartnoll was a creature of impulse. In the excitement of the moment he
forgot danger, and the dastardly nature of the crimes gave him more than
his usual amount of courage. He rushed at the chimney, and, regardless
of soot and darkness, began an impromptu ascent.

"Half-way up something struck him--once, twice, thrice,--sharply, and
there was a soft, malevolent chuckle.

"At this juncture the two undergraduates arrived in Brady's room. No one
was there--nothing save a hunched-up figure on a chair.

"'Hartnoll!' they whispered. 'Hartnoll!' No reply. They called
again--still no reply. Again and again they called, until at length,
through sheer fatigue, they desisted, and seized with a sudden panic
fled precipitately downstairs and out into the quadran