The Washington times., 1913-04-20
CHAPTER XvI.-(Continued.)

| he brlSut clTCle from JeUrey
| electric torch flashed on thai
only a second. then wheeled
to the left and revealed /;
narrow stairway, leading straight VI
away from us to the floor above. Half
was an opening which apparently lee
of at right angles. Just at the foot OF
| the stairway on the left side of the cor
| ridor was door. Jeffrey flashed his
| torch again to the right of where We
were standing and revealed another
| corridor parallel to the one which oc'
Cured further down.
Jeffrey didn't keep his light on more
| than five seconds altogether. Then
seeming to have seem enough to satisfy
to guide me, and walked straight ahead
to the stairway.
1 confess 1 didn't like going upstairs
AS long we had an open window
there, that could be reached with a rush
and tumbled out of without serious
risk of injury, 1t wasn't 20 bad. But
upstairs,
1t was. on the second story that the
light was. The stairs were old, too, and
II seemed to me they creaked horribly
However. We reached the. second floor
without misadventure and. found, in the
momentary glimpse that Jeffrey's torch
afforded us, what seemed to be the
same arrangement of corridors as on
the floor below.
The moment Jeffrey switched off the
torch he directed my attention to thin
thread of light that was coming out
from under the door at the end of the
corridor. He gave little grunt of sat
isfaction. but. to my relief. Immediately
led me away from ii, back along the
corridor to the point above the window
where We had got in and then of to the
left. At the end Of ten PAGES he
stopped me in front of a door, A. flicker
Of lightning outside revealed that much.
1t also revealed that jeffrey had his ear
against the door panel.
We stood there perfectly still for
what seemed a long time to me. prob
ably not more than twenty seconds.
Then. perfectly calmly, Jeffrey opened
the door and went in
1t was a big. rather nobly proper
toned room, with a fireplace in il and
bay window at one end-charmingly
and rather intimately furnished. but
with an air. somehow. OF disuse. ! got
that general impression from a pro-
longed series of lightning flickers.
Meanwhile Jeffrey's bulls eve was
picking out details. What IL seemed TO
rest ON longest was a heavy layer OF
dust on the bare mahogany center
table and on the mantel over the fire.
place. There were two doors besides
the one We had come in by. but the one
he finally advanced to was in. the op
posite wall. He opened 1t without hesi-
tation this time. and We found ourselves
looking into a long. deep clothes closet.
The two side walls showed nothing
but bare hooks. and the short wall al
the end had few nondescript articles
hanging on 1t. I'd have turned awLy
without a second glance. But Jeffrey
went straight in, and ] saw him appar-
entity scrutinizing the garment hanging
at the far end at close range with his
electric torch.
There wasn't room for both of us
in there. and / had no idea what hc
could find to interest him. SO ] waited
in the bay window. The lightning was
now almost continuous and there was
an occasional mutter of thunder along
with II. The storm, which the dead
stiffness of an hour ago had prophesied
was getting near enough TO be reckon
ed with. And, on the whole. | wasn't
sorry. Anything would be better than
that breathless silence out of doors.
What small comfort | got out OF that
was presently neutralized, though. by
what ! saw out on the lawn in the in
stantaneous illumination of n vivid
lightning flash. Just "A silhouette OF a
man crOuching tense behind the trunk
of big tree. He wasn't watching ;hr
house. He was turned in the other Ill
reCtiOn. There were many watchers