of returning to London
to-night, I should certainly have availed myself of it, Petrie. I
share your misgivings. We are intruders at a time like this."

He stared at me keenly, blowing a wreath of smoke from his lips, and
then directing his attention to the cone of ash which crowned his
cigar. I glanced, and not for the first time, toward the quaint old
doorway which gave access to a certain corridor. Then--

"Apart from the feeling that we intrude," I continued slowly, "there
is a certain sense of unrest."

"Yes," snapped Smith, sitting suddenly upright--"yes! You experience
this? Good! You are happily sensitive to this type of impression,
Petrie, and therefore quite as useful to me as a cat is useful to a
physical investigator."

He laughed in his quick, breezy fashion.

"You will appreciate my meaning," he added; "therefore I offer no
excuse for the analogy. Of course, the circumstances, as we know them,
may be responsible for this consciousness of unrest. We are neither of
us likely to forget the attempt upon the life of Sir Lionel Barton two
years ago or more. Our attitude toward sudden illness is scarcely that
of impartial observers."

"I suppose not," I admitted, glancing yet again at the still vacant
doorway by the foot of the stairs, which now the twilight was draping
in mysterious shadows.

Indeed, our position was a curious one. A welcome invitation from our
old friend, Sir Lionel Barton, the world-famous explorer, had come at
a time when a spell of repose, a glimpse of sea and awakening
countryside, and a breath of fair, untainted air were very desirable.
The position of Karamaneh, who accompanied us, was sufficiently
unconventional already, but the presence of Mrs. Oram, the dignified
housekeeper, had rendered possible her visit to this bachelor
establishment. In fact it was largely in the interests of the girl's
health that we had accepted.

On our arrival at Graywater Park we had learnt that our host had been
stricken down an hour earlier by sudden illness. The exact nature of
his seizure I had thus far been unable to learn; but a local doctor,
who had left the Park barely ten minutes before our advent, had
strictly forbidden visitors to the sick-room. Sir Lionel's man,
Kennedy, who had served him in many strange spots in the world, was
in attendance.

So much we had gathered from Homopoulo, the Greek butler (Sir Lionel's
household had ever been eccentric). Furthermore, we learned that there