of the pieces, and,
beyond an hour's suffering for his foolishness, was not injured.

It appeared, when Nick questioned him, that a boy had handed the box of
candy in at the door, saying, when Joseph appeared to receive it, that
it had been ordered by the detective himself, and was to be placed in
his study for him; and the boy had had the temerity to raise the lid of
the box when he delivered it, wink slyly at Joseph, and exclaim:

"See! aren't they dandy? I tasted one; they're fine."

And then he had run away, laughing.

Joseph had seen the candy, and, being fond of it, could not resist the
temptation also to take a taste of it when he placed the box upon his
master's table.

That same night, at half-past eleven o'clock, Nick was seated at the
desk in his study, which is located on the third floor in the rear of
his house. He was engaged in looking over some notes relative to an old
case which he wished to recall to mind.

The shade at the window was lowered, but the light was in such a
position that it threw his shadow against the curtain and outlined his
head upon it almost perfectly.

Suddenly he was startled by the report of a gun, and the next instant a
bullet crashed through the glass of his window and buried itself in the
opposite wall of the room.

Later on, when he investigated the incident, he found that the bullet
had passed directly through the shadow of his head as it was cast upon
the window shade, the person who fired it evidently supposing that his
head was directly behind that shadow; but the fact that the light was at
one side of the room, and had therefore thrown the shadow somewhat back
of where he was actually seated, saved his life.

Further investigation disclosed the fact that the bullet had been fired
from the rear of one of the houses in the block directly behind where
the detective lived. It was not discovered how the would-be assassin had
secured his position on the roof.

But this accumulation of accidents--so called for want of a better
term--was altogether too much for the serenity and the composure of the
detective and his assistants.

It was evident that Madge had determined to make his life miserable if
it could be done, and when Nick recalled the substance of the letter she
had sent him he decided in his own mind that the bullet had not really
been intended to take his life, but only to warn him of the dangers that
were hovering over him every minute that he lived.

In