re these circumstances? They were, as I have said, numerous,
though many of them seemed trivial. To begin with, Mr. Weiss's habit of
appearing some time after my arrival and disappearing some time before
my departure was decidedly odd. But still more odd was his sudden
departure this evening on what looked like a mere pretext. That
departure coincided in time with the sick man's recovery of the power of
speech. Could it be that Mr. Weiss was afraid that the half-conscious
man might say something compromising to him in my presence? It looked
rather like it. And yet he had gone away and left me with the patient
and the housekeeper.

But when I came to think about it I remembered that Mrs. Schallibaum had
shown some anxiety to prevent the patient from talking. She had
interrupted him more than once, and had on two occasions broken in when
he seemed to be about to ask me some question. I was "mistaken" about
something. What was that something that he wanted to tell me?

It had struck me as singular that there should be no coffee in the
house, but a sufficiency of tea. Germans are not usually tea-drinkers
and they do take coffee. But perhaps there was nothing in this. Rather
more remarkable was the invisibility of the coachman. Why could he not
be sent to fetch the coffee, and why did not he, rather than the
housekeeper, come to take the place of Mr. Weiss when the latter had to
go away.

There were other points, too. I recalled the word that sounded like
"Pol'n," which Mr. Graves had used in speaking to the housekeeper.
Apparently it was a Christian name of some kind; but why did Mr. Graves
call the woman by her Christian name when Mr. Weiss addressed her
formally as Mrs. Schallibaum? And, as to the woman herself: what was the
meaning of that curious disappearing squint? Physically it presented no
mystery. The woman had an ordinary divergent squint, and, like many
people, who suffer from this displacement, could, by a strong muscular
effort, bring the eyes temporarily into their normal parallel position.
I had detected the displacement when she had tried to maintain the
effort too long, and the muscular control had given way. But why had she
done it? Was it only feminine vanity--mere sensitiveness respecting a
slight personal disfigurement? It might be so; or there might be some
further motive. It was impossible to say.

Turning this question over, I suddenly remembered the peculiarity of Mr.
Weiss's spectacles. And her