osely padlocked. Northmour, therefore, had entered by
the back; this was the natural, and indeed, the necessary conclusion; and
you may judge of my surprise when, on turning the house, I found the back
door similarly secured.

My mind at once reverted to the original theory of thieves; and I blamed
myself sharply for my last night's inaction. I examined all the windows on
the lower story, but none of them had been tampered with; I tried the
padlocks, but they were both secure. It thus became a problem how the
thieves, if thieves they were, had managed to enter the house. They must
have got, I reasoned, upon the roof of the outhouse where Northmour used
to keep his photographic battery; and from thence, either by the window of
the study or that of my old bedroom, completed their burglarious entry.

I followed what I supposed was their example; and, getting on the roof,
tried the shutters of each room. Both were secure; but I was not to be
beaten; and, with a little force, one of them flew open, grazing, as it
did so, the back of my hand. I remember, I put the wound to my mouth, and
stood for perhaps half a minute licking it like a dog, and mechanically
gazing behind me over the waste links and the sea; and, in that space of
time, my eye made note of a large schooner yacht some miles to the
northeast. Then I threw up the window and climbed in.

I went over the house, and nothing can express my mystification. There was
no sign of disorder, but, on the contrary, the rooms were unusually clean
and pleasant. I found fires laid, ready for lighting; three bedrooms
prepared with a luxury quite foreign to Northmour's habits, and with water
in the ewers and the beds turned down; a table set for three in the
dining-room; and an ample supply of cold meats, game, and vegetables on
the pantry shelves. There were guests expected, that was plain; but why
guests, when Northmour hated society? And, above all, why was the house
thus stealthily prepared at dead of night? and why were the shutters
closed and the doors padlocked?

I effaced all traces of my visit, and came forth from the window feeling
sobered and concerned.

The schooner yacht was still in the same place; and it flashed for a
moment through my mind that this might be the "Red Earl" bringing the
owner of the pavilion and his guests. But the vessel's head was set the
other way.

II

I returned to the den to cook myself a meal, of which I stood in great
need, as well