.

Almost immediately after the postern door was cautiously opened, a white
face was protruded into the lane, and a hand was seen beckoning to the
watchers. In dead silence the three passed the door, which was
immediately locked behind them, and followed their guide through several
garden alleys to the kitchen entrance of the house. A single candle
burned in the great paved kitchen, which was destitute of the customary
furniture; and as the party proceeded to ascend from thence by a flight
of winding stairs, a prodigious noise of rats testified still more
plainly to the dilapidation of the house.

Their conductor preceded them, carrying the candle. He was a lean man,
much bent, but still agile; and he turned from time to time and
admonished silence and caution by his gestures. Colonel Geraldine
followed on his heels, the case of swords under one arm, and a pistol
ready in the other. Brackenbury's heart beat thickly. He perceived that
they were still in time; but he judged from the alacrity of the old man
that the hour of action must be near at hand; and the circumstances of
this adventure were so obscure and menacing, the place seemed so well
chosen for the darkest acts, that an older man than Brackenbury might
have been pardoned a measure of emotion as he closed the procession up
the winding stair.

At the top the guide threw open a door and ushered the three officers
before him into a small apartment, lighted by a smoky lamp and the glow
of a modest fire. At the chimney corner sat a man in the early prime of
life, and of a stout but courtly and commanding appearance. His attitude
and expression were those of the most unmoved composure; he was smoking
a cheroot with much enjoyment and deliberation, and on a table by his
elbow stood a long glass of some effervescing beverage which diffused an
agreeable odour through the room.

"Welcome," said he, extending his hand to Colonel Geraldine. "I knew I
might count on your exactitude."

"On my devotion," replied the Colonel, with a bow.

"Present me to your friends," continued the first; and, when that
ceremony had been performed, "I wish, gentlemen," he added, with the
most exquisite affability, "that I could offer you a more cheerful
programme; it is ungracious to inaugurate an acquaintance upon serious
affairs; but the compulsion of events is stronger than the obligations
of good-fellowship. I hope and believe you will be able to forgive me
this unpleasant evening; a