ed out in a loud
tone, "Help! Thieves!"

Now it so happened that the watchman attached to the hotel was just
making his rounds and was not far off. He ran to the spot, caught sight
of the flying figure of the departing burglar, and caught him by the
shoulder.

Buffington was a strong man, and could have got away from a man of
ordinary muscles. But the watchman was a man of more than average
strength, having served as porter before he had been transferred to the
post of watchman and detective.

He gripped Buffington in a vise-like grasp.

"No, my man," he said, "you don't get away so easy. Stand still, and
give an account of yourself."

"I am a guest of the hotel," said Buffington sullenly.

"Then why are you not in bed?"

"Because I had a severe headache and thought I would take a little walk
in the corridor."

"What made you come into my room?" demanded Mark, who now appeared on
the scene.

"I didn't know whose room it was. I thought it was my own."

"How did you get in? The door was locked."

"No, it wasn't," answered Buffington boldly. "You thought you locked it,
but you didn't. Trying the knob it opened at once, and I supposed it was
my own which I had left unlocked."

"Is that true?" asked the watchman, looking doubtfully at Mark.

"No, it isn't. I took special pains to lock the door, for I knew that
there was a possibility of my room being entered."

"Then he must have got through the transom. We have had such cases
before."

"If you have finished asking foolish questions I will go back to bed,"
said Buffington with remarkable assurance.

"Wait a minute. Did you see this man in your room?"

The question was addressed to Mark.

"Yes. I woke up while he was there."

"What was he doing?"

"Searching for my purse. He was fumbling about the bedclothes at the
foot of the bed."

"Was your money there?"

"Yes."

Buffington's face contracted with disappointment. He had been on the
brink of success, when Mark, unfortunately for him, awoke.

"And you spoke to him?"

"Yes."

"What then?"

"He sprang for the door, and would have escaped if you had not caught
him."

"Did you ever see the man before?"

"I saw him on the train coming here for the first time."

"Did anything happen on the train?"

"Yes. He stole a young lady's pocketbook. I made him give it up."

Buffington looked at Mark menacingly. He would have liked to wreak his
vengeance upon him.

"Do you know his name?"

"He