least was not locked; and, opening it with a careful hand,
I listened intently, but could hear nothing save the smothered sound of
men talking in the room below.

"Should I signal for my companions? No, for the secret was not yet mine
as to how men passed from this room into the watery grave which was the
evident goal for all wearers of the blue ribbon.

"Stepping back into the middle of the room, I carefully pondered my
situation, but could get no further than the fact that I was somehow,
and in some way, in mortal peril. Would it come in the form of a bullet,
or a deadly thrust from an unseen knife? I did not think so. For, to say
nothing of the darkness, there was one reassuring fact which recurred
constantly to my mind in connection with the murders I was endeavoring
to trace to this den of iniquity.

"None of the gentlemen who had been found drowned had shown any marks of
violence on their bodies, so it was not attack I was to fear, but some
mysterious, underhanded treachery which would rob me of consciousness
and make the precipitation of my body into the water both safe and easy.
Perhaps it was in the bottle of brandy that the peril lay; perhaps--but
why speculate further! I would watch till midnight and then, if nothing
happened, signal my companions to raid the house.

"Meantime a peep into the next room might help me towards solving the
mystery. Setting the bottle and glass aside, I dragged the table across
the floor, placed it under the lighted window, mounted, and was about to
peer through, when the light in that apartment was put out also. Angry
and overwhelmed, I leapt down, and, stretching out my hands till they
touched the wainscoting, I followed the wall around till I came to the
knob of the door, which I frantically clutched. But I did not turn it
immediately, I was too anxious to catch these villains at work. Would I
be conscious of the harm they meditated against me, or would I
imperceptibly yield to some influence of which I was not yet conscious,
and drop to the floor before I could draw my revolver or put to my mouth
the whistle upon which I de-pended for assistance and safety? It was
hard to tell, but I determined to cling to my first intention a little
longer, and so stood waiting and counting the minutes, while wondering
if the captain of the police boat was not getting impatient, and whether
I had not more to fear from the anxiety of my friends than the cupidity
of my foes.

"You see I ha