ct
could be.

At last the lagging hours reached their end, and bed-time came. Before
she slept that night Magdalen had cleaned the keys from all impurities,
and had oiled the wards, to help them smoothly into the locks. The last
difficulty that remained was the difficulty of choosing the time when
the experiment might be tried with the least risk of interruption and
discovery. After carefully considering the question overnight, Magdalen
could only resolve to wait and be guided by the events of the next day.

The morning came, and for the first time at St. Crux events justified
the trust she had placed in them. The morning came, and the one
remaining difficulty that perplexed her was unexpectedly smoothed away
by no less a person than the admiral himself! To the surprise of every
one in the house, he announced at breakfast that he had arranged to
start for London in an hour; that he should pass the night in town; and
that he might be expected to return to St. Crux in time for dinner on
the next day. He volunteered no further explanations to the housekeeper
or to any one else, but it was easy to see that his errand to London
was of no ordinary importance in his own estimation. He swallowed his
breakfast in a violent hurry, and he was impatiently ready for the
carriage before it came to the door.

Experience had taught Magdalen to be cautious. She waited a little,
after Admiral Bartram's departure, before she ventured on trying her
experiment with the keys. It was well she did so. Mrs. Drake took
advantage of the admiral's absence to review the condition of the
apartments on the first floor. The results of the investigation by
no means satisfied her; brooms and dusters were set to work; and the
house-maids were in and out of the rooms perpetually, as long as the
daylight lasted.

The evening passed, and still the safe opportunity for which Magdalen
was on the watch never presented itself. Bed-time came again, and found
her placed between the two alternatives of trusting to the doubtful
chances of the next morning, or of trying the keys boldly in the dead
of night. In former times she would have made her choice without
hesitation. She hesitated now; but the wreck of her old courage still
sustained her, and she determined to make the venture at night.

They kept early hours at St. Crux. If she waited in her room until
half-past eleven, she would wait long enough. At that time she stole out
on to the staircase, with the