undisturbed quarter of London, he had, beyond doubt, found it here.

There was a bridged-over court before the house. Lady Muriel crossed.
She paused before the door. There had been a bell pull in the wall, but
the brass handle was broken and only the wire remained.

She was uncertain whether one was supposed to pull this wire, and in
the hesitation she took hold of the door latch. To her surprise the door
yielded, and following the impulse of her extended hand, she went in.

The hall was empty. There was no servant to be seen. And immediately the
domestic arrangement of the biologist were clear to her. They would be
that of one who had a cleaning woman in on certain days, and so lived
alone. She was not encouraged by this economy, and yet such a custom in
a man like Bramwell Winton might be habit.

The scientist, in the popular conception, was not concerned with the
luxury of life--they were a rum lot.

But the house was not empty. A smart hat and stick were in the rack and
from what should be a drawing room, above, there descended faintly the
sound of voices.

It seemed ridiculous to Lady Muriel to go out and struggle with the
broken bell wire. She would go up, now that she had entered, and
announce herself, since, in any event, it must come to that.

The heavy oak door closed without a sound, as it had opened. Lady Muriel
went up the stairway. She had nothing to put down. The only thing she
carried was a purse, and lest it should appear suggestive--as of one
coming with his empty wallet in his hand--she tucked the gold mesh into
the bosom of her jacket.

The door to the drawing room was partly open, and as Lady Muriel
approached the top of the stair she heard the voices of two men in an
eager colloquy; a smart English accent from the world that she was so
desperately endeavoring to remain in, and a voice that paused and
was unhurried. But they were both eager, as I have written, as though
commonly impulsed by an unusual concern.

And now that she was near, Lady Muriel realized that the conversation
was not low or under uttered. The smart voice was, in fact, loud and
incisive. It was the heavy house that reduced the sounds. In fact, the
conversation was keyed up. The two men were excited about something.

A sentence arrested the woman's advancing feet.

"My word! Bramwell, if some one should go there and bring the things
out, he would make a fortune, and would be famous. Nobody ever believed
these storie