borhood Club's plaudits. For Herbert
to have made such an investigation, or even Sperry, with his height and
his iron muscles, would not have surprised them. But I was aware that
while they expected intelligence and even humor, of a sort, from me,
they did not anticipate any particular bravery.

The flash was working, but rather feebly. I found the nail where the
door-key had formerly hung, but the key, as I had expected, was gone. I
was less than five minutes, I fancy, in finding a key from my collection
that would fit. The bolt slid back with a click, and the door opened.

It was still early in the evening, eight-thirty or thereabouts. I tried
to think of that; to remember that, only a few blocks away, some of my
friends were still dining, or making their way into theaters. But the
silence of the house came out to meet me on the threshold, and its
blackness enveloped me like a wave. It was unfortunate, too, that I
remembered just then that it was, or soon would be, the very hour of
young Wells's death.

Nevertheless, once inside the house, the door to the outside closed and
facing two alternatives, to go on with it or to cut and run, I found a
sort of desperate courage, clenched my teeth, and felt for the nearest
light switch.

The electric light had been cut off!

I should have expected it, but I had not. I remember standing in the
back hall and debating whether to go on or to get out. I was not only
in a highly nervous state, but I was also badly handicapped. However,
as the moments wore on and I stood there, with the quiet unbroken by no
mysterious sounds, I gained a certain confidence. After a short period
of readjustment, therefore, I felt my way to the library door, and into
the room. Once there, I used the flash to discover that the windows were
shuttered, and proceeded to take off my hat and coat, which I placed on
a chair near the door. It was at this time that I discovered that the
battery of my lamp was very weak, and finding a candle in a tall brass
stick on the mantelpiece, I lighted it.

Then I looked about. The house had evidently been hastily closed.
Some of the furniture was covered with sheets, while part of it stood
unprotected. The rug had been folded into the center of the room, and
covered with heavy brown papers, and I was extremely startled to hear
the papers rustling. A mouse, however, proved to be the source of the
sound, and I pulled myself together with a jerk.

It is to be remember