he doctor, "that's very provident of you, admiral, and I
feel personally obliged; but tell me, how do you intend to conduct the
watch?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why, I mean, if we sit here with the window fastened so as to prevent
our light from being seen, and the door closed, how are we by any
possibility to know if the house is attacked or not?"

"Hark'ee, my friend," said the admiral; "I've left a weak point for the
enemy."

"A what, admiral?"

"A weak point. I've taken good care to secure everything but one of the
windows on the ground floor, and that I've left open, or so nearly open,
that it will look like the most natural place in the world to get in at.
Now, just inside that window, I've placed a lot of the family crockery.
I'll warrant, if anybody so much as puts his foot in, you'll hear the
smash;--and, d----e, there it is!"

There was a loud crash at this moment, followed by a succession of
similar sounds, but of a lesser degree; and both the admiral and Mr.
Chillingworth sprung to their feet.

"Come on," cried the former; "here'll be a precious row--take the
lantern."

Mr. Chillingworth did so, but he did not seem possessed of a great deal
of presence of mind; for, before they got out of the room, he twice
accidentally put on the dark slide, and produced a total darkness.

"D--n!" said the admiral; "don't make it wink and wink in that way; hold
it up, and run after me as hard as you can."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," said Mr. Chillingworth.

It was one of the windows of a long room, containing five, fronting the
garden, which the admiral had left purposely unguarded; and it was not
far from the apartment in which they had been sitting, so that,
probably, not half a minute's time elapsed between the moment of the
first alarm, and their reaching the spot from whence it was presumed to
arise.

The admiral had armed himself with one of the huge pistols, and he
dashed forward, with all the vehemence of his character, towards the
window, where he knew he had placed the family crockery, and where he
fully expected to meet the reward of his exertion by discovering some
one lying amid its fragments.

In this, however, he was disappointed; for, although there was evidently
a great smash amongst the plates and dishes, the window remained closed,
and there was no indication whatever of the presence of any one.

"Well, that's odd," said the admiral; "I balanced them up amazingly
careful, and two of 'em ed