The evening world. Newspaper, May 13, 1905, Page 13

r 4 ¢! and ever and anon the tinkle-tinkle of the skeleton key. Then—et last— " there came a aingl) unmistakable click. In another minute the mahogany f THE WORLD: SATURDAY EVEN door ind the tron gate yawned behind us; and Raffles was aitting on office table, wiping his face, with the lantern throwing a steady beam by his side. Ve were now in a bare and roomy lobby behind the shop, but separated (therefrom by an tron curtain, the very sight of which filled me with despair, Raffles, however, did not uppear in the least depressed, but hung up his coat and hat on some pegs in the lobby before examining this curtain with his lantern, ‘That's nothing,” said he, after a minute's ingpection; ‘we'll be through that in no time, but there’s a door on the other slde which may give us \rouble,”” “Another door!” I groaned. thing?” Prise it up with the jointed jimmy. The weak point of these fron cur- tains is the leverage you can get from below. But it makes a noise, and this is where you're coming in, Bunny; this is where I couldn't do without you, 7 must have you overhend to knock through when the street's clear , I'l came with you and show a light.” 7 Well, you may Imagine how little I liked the prospect of this lonely vigil; and yet there wis something very stimulating in the vital responsibil- ity which it involved. Hitherto [ had been a mere spectator, Now ! was \ to take part in the game. And the fresh excitement made me more thar ( ever insensible to those considerations of conscience and of safety which were already as dead nerves !n my breast. “And how do you mean to tackle this ) So I took my post without a murmur in the front room above the shop. The fixtures had been left for the refusal of the incoming tenant, and fortu- mately for us they included Venetian blinds which were already down, It was the simplest matter !n the world to stand peeping through the laths jane the street, to beat twice with my foot when anybody was approaching, and once when 11) was clear again. The noises that even I cowd hear below, with the exception of one metallic crash at the beginning, were Indeed In- credibly sight; put they ceased altogether at each double rap from my toe; } and a foliceman passed quite half a dozen times beneath my eyes, and the man whom I took to be the jeweller's watchman oftener still, during the ) better part of an hour that T spent at the window. Once, indeed, my heart was in my mouth, but only on Tt was when the watchman stopped and peered through the peep-hole into the lighted shop. 1 walted for his wh'stl> \ —I waited for the gallows or the gaol! Hut my aignals had been sindiously obeyed, and the man passed on tn undisturbed serenity. In the end IT had @ signal in wy turn, and retraced my steps with Hghted matches, down the broad vtairs, down the nurrow ones, across the area, and up into the lobby where Rifiles awaited me with an outstretched hand, “Well deve. my boy!" said he, @pd you sii) nave your reward, Bot a penn'eth. “You're the same good man in a pinch I've got a thousand pounds’ worth if I'v> It's ull in my pockets. And here's something else I founc in this look Vely decent port and some cigars, meant for poor, dear Danby's business friends. Take a pull and you shall Nght up Presently Ive found a lavatory, too, and we must have a wash-and-brush-up before we go. joi Pm as black us your boot.” The jyon cartain was down, but he insisted on raising it until I coul: peey tivough the glass door 69 the other side and see his handiwork in the shop beyond. Here two electric lights were left burning all night long, an, in (hei, cold while rays I could at first see nothing amiss. I looked alon. an ordcrly lane, an empty glass counter on my left, glass cupboards of un- POET CR SIC RET TH Ss aL Fi On ss touched silver on my right, and facing me the filmy black eye of the peep- hole that shone like a stage moon on the street, The counter had not been emptied by Raffles; its contents were In the chubb's safe, which he had given wp at a glance; nor had he looked at the silver, except to choose a olgarette case for me, He had con- fined himself entirely to the shop window. This was in three compart- ments, each secured for the night by. removable panels with separate locks, Raffles had removed them a few hours before their time, and the electric ght shone on a corrugated shutter bare as the ribs of an empty carcase. Every article of value was gone from the one place which was invisible from the little window in the door; elsewhere all was as it had | been left overnight. And but for a train of mangled doors behind the fron curtain, a bottle of wine aud a cigar box with which liberties had been taken, a rather black towel in the lavatory, a burnt match here and there, and our finger-marks on the dusty banisters, not a trace of our visit did we leave. “Had it in my head for long?” sald Raffles, as we strolled through the streets toward dawn, for all the world as though we were returning from a dance, “No, Bunny, I never thought of it till I saw that upper part empty about a month ago, and bought a few things In the shop to get the lie of the land, That reminds me that I never pald for them; but, hy Jove, | will to-morrow, and if that isn’t poetic justice, what is? One visit showed me the possibilities of the place, but a second convinced me of its impossibilities without a pal. So | had practically given up the idea, when you came along on the very night and in the very plight for it! But here we are at the Albany, and 1 hope there's some fire left; for t don't Know how you feel, Bunny, but for my , part I'm as cold as Keats's owl” He ceuld think of Keats on his way He could hanker for Wwloodgates from a felony! his nreside Hke another! were loosed within me, and the plain Englleu of our adventure rushed over me as cold as ice, Raffles was a burg- lar, 1 had helped him ie commit ove burglary, therefore | was a burglar too, Yet 1 could stanu acd warm myself by his fire, and watch him empty his pockels, as though we had done nothing wonderful or wicked! My blood froze. My heert sickened, My brain whirled. How ‘Ao am 3 DOD B98 SRB 1 had Rings by the dozen, diamonds by the score. % MAY 13, 1905, Nked this villain! 4tow't had admired him! Now my liking and admira- tion must turn to loathing and disgust. | waited for the change, I longed to feei it in my heart, But—I longed and | walted in vain! 1 saw (hat he was emptying hie pockets; the table sparklod with their hoard, Rings by the dozen, diamonds ly the score, bracelets, pendants, algrettes, necklaces, pearls, rubies, umethysts, sapphires; and diamonds always, diamonds in everything, Hashing bayonets of ght, dageding we—hiinding me—making me disbe lieve because [E could no longer fo: get. Last of all came no gem, deed, but my own revolver from an inner pocket, And that struck a chord. 1 suppose I had something— my hand flew out, I can see Raffles now, as he looked at me once more with a high arch over each clear oye. T can see him pick out the cartridges with his quiet, cynical smile before be would give me back my pistol again “You mayn't believe it, Bunny,” sald he, “but I never carried a loaded one before, On the whole I think it gives one confidence, Yet it would be very awkward if anything went wrong; one might use it, and thats not the game at all, though I have often thought that the murderer who has just done the trick must have great sengations before things get too hot for him, Don't look so distressed, my dear chap. I've never had those sensations, and | don't suppose 1 ever shall.” “But this much you have done before?” sald 1 hoarsely. “Before? My dear Bunny, you offend me! Did it look like a first attempt? Of course | have done it before." “Often?” “Well—no! Not often enough to destroy the charm, at all events; never us a matter of fact, unless I'm cursedly hard up. Did you hear about the Thimbleby diamonds? Well, that was the last time—and a poor lot of paste they were. Then there was the little business of the Dormer house- boat at Henley last year, That was sever brought off a veally big coup yet, lso—auch as it was, Ive hall chuek at np." P Y 4 sess a both iY ses very well, To think that he was their au- thor! it was incredible, out sous, inconceivable. Then my eyes would fall upon the table, twinkling and glittering in a hundred places, and incred- mine whe ibe Han a 19 LB aE 9 2,33 3B. ne BB a AF BD RBA 9 9201800 pe 70 SCE HORA EK Yayo ee He | ulity was at an end. y a ‘How came you to begin?” T asked, ns curiosity overcame mere and a tascination for his career gradually wove itself into my fascination for the man , “Ah! thas's a long story,” sald Raffles. 1 was out there playing cricket, wus In much the sume fix that you were in to-night, and {t was my only way out. “It was in the Colonies, when all over with me, © some humdrum uncongerta! billet, when exeltement, romance, danger and a decent living were all going begging together? Of course it's very wrong, but we can't all ce moralists, and the distribution of wealth is very wrong to begin with, Besides, you're not at it all the time, I’m sick of quoting Gilbert's lines to myself, but they're profoundly true. 1 only wonder it you'll ife the Ife as mueb as T do.” “Like it?” Levied out. “Not I! It’s no life for me “You wouldn't give me a hand another time?” “Don't ask me, Ratfes, Don't nak me, for God's sake!" ‘Yet you said yor: would do anything for me! You asked moe to name my erlme! Butt knew at the time you didn’t mean tt; you didn’t go back on me to-night, and that ought to satisfy me, goodness knows! I suppose I'm ungrateful and unreasonable, and all that. T ought to let ft end at this, Hut you're the very man for me, Bunny, the--very—man! Just think how we got through to-night, Nota serateh—not a hitch! There's nothing ver, terrible in at, you see; there neyer would he while we worked together.” He was standing in front of me with a hand on either shoulder; he wag smiling its he knew sv well how to smile, I turned on my heel, planted my elbows on the chimney-piece and my burning head between my hands Next instant a stil! heartier hand had fallen on my back, “AL! right. my boy! You are quite right and I’m worse than wrong. Vi never ask it again Go if you want to, and come again about midday for the cash, Vhere was no bargain, but of course [ll get you out of your scrnpe—espectally after the way you've stood by me to-night.’ T was round again, with my blood on fire. “rit do it again, TP sald, through my teeth, He shook bis head, “Not you,” ie sald, smiling quite good-humoredly on ny insane enthuse, “To wilh" TPeried with an oath, like! What does it matter now? Once ts enough!” “Til lend you a hand as often as you I've heen in it or ll be In it again, I've gone to the devil, anyhow. | can't go back, and wouldn't if I could, Nothing matters another rap! When you want me I'm your man!" And that is how Rafiles and I juined felonious forces on the Ides of Mareh, (THE BEND.) NEXT SATURDAY—‘‘A Costume Piece,’’ the Second Adventure of "RAFFLES, THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN”’ It's too long a story to tell you now, but 1 > i never meant it for anything more; but I'd tasted blood, and It was | i Why should T work when I could steal? Why settle down” \The Yellow Face. BY SIR A, CONAN DOYLE. (COPYRIGHT. 1902 BY HARPER & BROTHERS.) NERLOCK HOLMWS was a man who seldom took exercise for exercise's sake, Few men wore capable of greater muscular effort, and was undoubtedly one of the finest boxers of hia weight that I have ever seen; but he looked upon m'crs bodily exertion as a waete of energy, and he sclécm bestirred himself save where there was some professional object to be served. Then he was avsolutely untiring and indefatigable. That he should have kept himself in training under such ctr- cumstences Is remarkable, but his diet was usually of the sparest, and his habite were simple to the verge of austerity. Save for whe occasional use of cucaine, he had no vices, and he only turned to the drug as a protest against the monotony of ex- istencn when cases were scanty and the papers un- airteresting, One day in early spring he had go far relaxed as to go for a walk with me in the park, where the firs. fu'nt shoots of green were breaking out upon the elns, and the sticky spearsheads of the chest- Nu + Were just beginning to burst Into their fve- fold leaves. For two hours we rambled about to- wether, In silence for the most part, ag befits two men who know each other intimately, It was nearly 5 before we were back in Baker street once more, “Ber pardon, sir," sald our page-boy, a6 he oponnc the door, “There's bean @ gentleman here asking for you, air, Huimes glaygced reproachfully at me. ‘8o much for afternoon walks!" said he, “Has thie gentle- _ mea gone, thent" “Yes, el" “Didn't you ask him int “Yes, sir; he came iy,” “How long did he watt?" “Half an hour, sir, He wae a very resiless gen- tleman, sir, aewalkin' and ampin’ all the time he was here, [ was waitin’ outside the door, alr, and I could hear him, At last he out Into the passage, and he cries, ‘Is that man never goin’ to comet’ Thove were his very words, alr, ‘You'll only need to walt a little longer,’ saye I. ‘Then I'll walt in the open air, for I feel haif choked,’ gaye he, ‘I'll be back before long.’ And with that he ups and he outs, ard all I could say wouldn't hold him back.” ‘Well, well, you did your best,” sald Holmes, as we walked into our room, “I's very annoying, though, ton, I was badly in need of a case, anc this looks, from the man's impatience, as !f it were cf importance, Hullo! that's not your pipe on the table, He muat have left hia behind him, A nicy old brier with a good long stem of what the tobacconists call amber, I wonder how many real ember mouthpleces there are in London? Some Peoplo think that a fly in it Is a sign, Well, ho must have been disturbed in his mind to leave a pipe behind him which he evidently values highly, “How do you know that he values it highly?” C asked. “Well, | should put the original cost of the pipe @t seven and sixpence, Now it has, you see, been twice mended, once in the wooden stem and once in tho amber, Each of these menda, done, aa you with silver bands, must have cost more than the pipe did originally, The man must value hw i the pipe highly when he prefers to patoh it up phon) Pee than buy a new one with the samo mono; ‘Anything | 1 yr Hole u ee on @ bone. “Pipes are occasionally of oxtraordinary interest,” sald he, “Nothing has more Individuality, save perhaps watches ani bootlices. ‘The tndications hore, however, are neither vory marked nor very im. portant, The owner ts obvioualy a muscular man, loft handed, with an excellent set of teeth, careless Ja hls habits and with no need to prictise rconomy.” My (riend threw out tne information in a very off-hand way, but I saw that he cocked his eye at mo tu see If I had followed his reasoning. “You think a man must be well to dp if he smokes 4 seven-ahilling pipe," eaid I. “Phiz 1s Grosvenor mixture at elghtpence an ounce," Holmes answered, knocking a little out on iis palm, "As he might get an excellent smoke for half the price, he has no need to practise economy." "And the other points?” “He has been in the habit of lighting his pipe at lamps und gasjeis, You can see that it is quite charred all down one side. Of course a match could not have done that, Why should a man hold a match to the side of his pipe? But you cannot light it at a lamp without getting the bow! charred. And It Ia all on the right side of the pipe, From that J gather that he is @ lefi-lranded man, You hod your own pipe to the lamp, and see how natur- ally -you, being right handed, hold the Jeft side to the flame, You might do it once the other way, but not ag a constancy, This has always been held 80. The’ he hag bitten through his amber, It takes a muscular, energetic fellow, and one with a good set of teeth, to do that. But If I am not mistaken I heer bim upon #0 we shall have some- thing more Intereating than his pipe to study ‘\u inatant later our door opened, and a tall young 4ian entered the room. He was well but quietly dressed In @ dark-gray sult, and carried a brown wideawake in his hand, I should have put him at about thirty, though he was really some years older, “I beg your pardon," sald he, with some em- barrasesment; “I suppose I should have knocked, Yes, of course I should have knocked. ‘The fact fs that I am a lUttle uneet, and you muat put {t all down to that," He passed his hand over his forehead like a man who Is half dased, and then fell rather than sat down upon a chalr, “f can gee that you have not slept for a night or two," eald Holmes, in his easy, genial way. ‘That tries a man's nerves more than work and more even than pleasure. May I ask how I cvn help you?" “L wanted your advice, sir, I don't know what to do, and my whole life seema to have gone to pieces.” “You wish to employ me aa a consulting detec user “Not that only. I want your opinion ag a judi. clou. man—as a man of the world, I want to know what I ought to do next. I hope to God you'll be able to tell me.” He spoke in little, sharp, jerky outburats, and it seemed to me that to speak at all was very painful to him, and that his will all through wes overriding his inclinations. “It's a very delicate thing,” said he. “One does not lke to apeak of one’s domestic affairs to strang- ere, It seeme dreadful to discuss the conduct of one's wife with two men whom I have never seen before, it's horrible to have to do It. But I've got to the end of my tether and T must have advice." ‘My dear Mr, Grant Munro"—— began Holmes. Our visitor sprang from his chair, “What! he cried, “you know my name?” “If you wish to preserve your {noognito,”’ said Holmes, smiling, “I would suggest that you cease to write your name upon the ning of your hat or else that you turn the crown toward the person whom you are addressing. I was about to say that my faiend and I have Ilstened to a good many wtrange secrets in this room and that wo have had the good fortune to bring peace to many troubled souls, X trust that we may do as much for you, Wight 1 bee you, as time prove to be of im- Solem coder Ns ha yd Y gesture and expression I could see that he wus a resorved, self-contained man, with a dash of pride in hig nature, more Hkely to hide his wounds than to expose them, Then suddenly, will a fleree ges ture of his closed hand, like one who throws reserve to the winds, he began: ‘Dhe tacts are these, Mr, Holmes,” said he. “1 am & married man, and have been so for three years. During that time my wife and I have loved each other as fondly and lived as happily as any two that ever were Joined. We have not had a differ- ence, not one, in thought or word or ¢ now, since last Monday, there has suddenty up @ barrier between us, and I find that there something In her life and in her thougnis of whielr | know as little as if she were the woman who brughes by me In the street. We are estranged, and I want to know why, “Now, there is one thing that I want to Impress upon you before I go any further, Mr. Holmes, Ett loves me. Don't let there be any mistake about that. She loves me with her whole heart and soul. and never more than now, I know it, I feel It. 1 don't want to argue about that, A man oan tell easily enough when a woman loves him, But there's this secret between us, and we can never be the same until it is cleared. "Kindly let me have the facts, Mr Holmes with some Impatience. “PN tell you what I know about EMe's history: She was a widow when I first met her, though quite young, only twenty-five. Her name then was Mrs, Hebron, She went out to America when she was young, and lived in the town of Atlanta, where she married (his Hebron, who was a lawyer with a good practice, They had one child, but the yellow fever broke out badly in the place, and both husband and child died of it, I have seen this death certificate This sickened her of America, and she came back to live with a maiden aunt at Pinner, In Middlesex. 1 may mention that her husband ihad left her com- fortably off, and that she had a capital of about four thousand five hundred pounds, which had been so well Invested by him that it returned an avers of seven per cent. She had only been six months at Pinner when I met her; we fell in love with each other, and we married a few weeks afterward, “Tr am a hop merchant myself, and as T have an income of seven or elght hundred, we found our- selves comfortably off, and took a nice elghty pound-a year villa at Norbury. Our little place war very countrified, considering that it ls 90 close to town. We had an {nn and two houses a little above us, and a single cottage at the other side of the fleld whtoh faces us, and except those, there were no houses until you got half way to the station. My Dusiness took me into town at certain seasons, but in summer I had less to do, and then in our country home my wife and I were just as happy as could be wished. I tell you that there never was a shadow between us until this accursed affair began. “There's one thing T ought to tell you before I Bo further, When we married, my wife made over all her property to me—rather againgt my will, for f saw how awkward It would be if my business affairs wont wrong. However, she would have it #0, and It was done, Well, about alx weeks ago she came to me, + +Jack,’ sald she, ‘when you took my money you wald that if ever IT wanted any 1 was to ask you Munro," sald for tt! “Certainly, sald I. ‘It's all your own.’ “swell, said she, I want a hundred pounds. “T was a bit staggered at this, for 1 had imagined {t was simply a new dress or something of the kind that she was after, “rwhat on earth for? I asked. “Oh! sald she, in her playful way, ‘you sald that you were only ray banker, and bankers never ask questions, you know.’ “If you really mean It, of course you shall have the money,’ said I, “Oh, yes, I really mean It.” “*Ana you Won't tell me what you want It for?’ “Some day, perhaps, but not just at present, Jack,’ Bo I had to be content with that, though It was the first time that there had ever been any secret between us, I gave heracheck and I never thought any more of the matter, It may have nothing to do with what came afterward, but I thought it ‘only right to mention It, that there ts a cottage oh far thors out, bowee, “There Is usta eld Nit J ma ic at M @ i i nih 4 nice little grove of Scotoh firs, and I used to be very fond of stroiling down there, for trees are always a neighborly kind of things, The cotiage had been standing empty this eight months, and it was a pity, for it was a pretty two-storled place, with an old-fashioned porch and honeysuckle about it, I have stood many a time and thought what a neat little homestead {t would make, “Well, last Monday evening 1 was taking a stroll down that way, when ! met an empty van coming up the lane, and saw a pile of carpets and things lying about on the grass-plot beside the porch. “It was clear that the cottage had at last been let, 1 walked past It, and then stopping, as an idle man might, I ran my eye over It, and wondered what sort of folk they were who had come to live so near us, And as I looked I suddenly became aware that a face was watching me out of one of the upper windows. “E don't know what there was about that tuce, Mr. Holmes, but it seemed to send a chill right down my back. I was some little way off, so that 1 could not make out the‘ features, but there was something unnatural and inhuman about the fa That was the {mpression that I had, and I moved auickly forward to get a nearer view of the person who was watching me. But as I did so the face suddenly disappeared, so suddenly that It seemed to have been plucked away Into the darkness 91 the room, I stood for five minutos thinking the business over, and trying to analyze my Impres- sons, I could not tell if the face were that of a man or a woman. It had been too far from me for that, But {ts color was what had Impressed me most. It was of a livid chalky white, and with something set and tigid about It which was shock- ingly unnatural. So disturbed was I that I deter- mined to see a little more of the new Inmates of the cottage, L approached and knocked at the door, which was opened by a tall, gaunt woman with @ harsh, forbidding face, What may you be wantin’?! orthern accent, “Tam your neighbor over yonder,’ sald 1, nod- ding toward my house, ‘I see that you have only she asked, in a Just moved in, so 1 thought that if I could be ot any help to you in any! ‘Ay, we'll Just ask ye when we want yb,’ said she, and shut the door in my face, Annoyed at the churlish rebum, IT turned my back and walked home, All evening, though T tried to think of other things, my mind would still turn to the @pparition nt the window and the rudeness of the woman, I determined to say nothing about the former to my wife, for she la a norvous, highly strung woman, and I had no wish that she should share the un- Pleasant impression which had been produced upon myself, I remarked to her, however, before I feal agle@ that the cottage was now oceupled, to which she returned no reply, “IT am usually an extremely sound sleeper. It has been a standing jest In the family that noth: Ing could ever wake me during the night. An@ yet, somehow, on thut particular night, whether it may have been the slight excitement produced by my little adventure or not I know not, but J slept much more lightly than usual, Halt in my dreams I was dimly conscious that something waa going on in the room, and gradually became aware that my wife had dressed herself and was slip. ping on her mantle and her bonnet, My ps were parted to murmur out some sleepy words of sum Prise or remonstrance at this untimely preparer (lon, when suddenly my half-opened eyes fell upom her face, illuminated by the candle tigi, and a® tontshment held me dumb, She wore an expression such as T never had seen before—such as [ shoukt have thought her incapable of assuming. She wae deadly pale and breathing fast, glancing turtively toward the bed as she fastened her mantle, to see Mf she had disturbed me. ‘Then, thinking that b was still asleep, she slipped noiselessly from the room, and an Instant later I hoard @ sharp creake Ing which could only come from the hinges of the front door, I sat up in bed and rapped my knuckles against the rail to make certain that I wea truly awake, Then T took my watch from under the pillow. It was % in the morning. What on earth could my wife be doing out on the country road at 3 in the morning, had eat for about twenty minutes turning the alle explans The 3 rn the Riegh ti ir A At, appear, FON in SNORT GWAR TEN PSUR) ol was still puzzling over it when T heard the door gently close again, and her footsteps coming Up the stairs. “oWhere in the world asked, as she entered i “he gave a violent start and a kind of gasping cry when I spoke, and that cry and start troubled me more than all the rest, for there was some> thing Indescribably guilty about them. My wife had always been a woman of a frank, open nature, wd it gave me a chill to see her slinking Into hee room, and erylng have you been, HMe? 1 own out and wincing when her own husband spoke to her. “*you awake, Jack!) she cried, with a nervous laugh. ‘Why, I thought that nothing could awaite you.’ o ‘Wherg have you been?’ I asked, more sternly, “OL dont wonder that you are surprised.’ sata she, and 1 could see that her fingers were tremb- ling as she undid the fastenings of her mantle, ‘Why, I never remember having done such @ thing in my Mfe before, The fact ta, that I felt as though I were choking, and haa a perfect long- ing for @ breath of fresh air, 1 really think that K should have fainted if I had not gone out. I stood ‘tthe door for a few minutes, and now [am quite myself again,’ “AN the time that she was telling me this story she never once looked in my direction, and her volce waa quite unlike her usual tones, It was evident to me that she was saying what wis falee, I said nothing In reply, but turned my face to the Wl, sick at heart, with my mind filled with @ thousand venomous doubts and suspicions, What was It that my wife was concealing from me? Where had she been during that strange expedi- tion? I felt that I should have no peace until I knew, and yet I shrank from asking her again after once she had told me what was fulse, All the rest of the night | tossed and tumbled, framing theory after theory, each yore unlikely than the last, “TE should have gone vo the elty that day, but T was too disturbed in mind to be able to pay attention to business matters. My wife seemed to be as up set as myself, and I could see from the little quem tioning glances which she kept shooting at me that she understood that 1 disbelleved her state ment, and that she was al her wits’ end what to do, We hardly exchanged a word during breakfast, and Immediately afterwards T went out for a walk, that I might think the matter out in the treat morning alr. “L went as far as the Crystal Palace, spent an hour dn the grounds, and was back in Norbury by t o'clock, It happened that my way tovk me past the cottage, and I stopped for an Instant to look @t the windo' and to see if I could cateh a glimpse of the strange face which had looked owt at me on the day before, As I stood there, Imagine my sue: prise, Mr, Holmes, when tho door suddenly openrd and my wife walked out, “1 Was struck dumb with astoniabment ut the sight of her; but my emotions were nothing to those which showed themsclyes upon her face when our eyes met, She seemed for an instant to wish to shrink back Inside the house again; and then, sooltig how useless all concealment: must be, she came forward with a very white face and fright ened eyes, which belled the amile upon her lpr. “Ab, duck,’ she sald, ‘I have Just been In to see if L can be of any assistance to our new neighbors, Why do you look at mo Ike that, Jack? You are not angry with me? "Go," aaid I, ‘this is where you went during the night?! “*What do you meant? she cried. “You came here, 1am sure of It, Who are these people, that you should visit them at such an hour?" "'T have not been here before.’ ‘How can you tell me what you know Is false? I orled. ‘Your very volce changes us you speak, When have I ever had a secret from you? 1 shall enter that cottage, and I shall probe the mutter to the botiom.? "No, no, Jack, for God's sake!’ she gasped, in incontrollable emotion, Then, as I approached the door, she seized my sleeve and pulled me back with convulsive strength. “I implore you not to do this, Jack,’ she cried. ‘E swear that 1 will tell you everything some day, but nothing but misery can come of it If you enter that cottage.’ Then, as I tried to shake her off, she clung to me in a frenzy of entreaty. “'Trust me, Jack!’ she cried, ‘Trust me only this once, You will never have cause to regret It, You know that I would not have a secret from you If It were not for yout own sake. Our whole lives are at stake in this. If you come home with me all will be well. If you force your way Into that cot+ tage all is over between us.’ "There was such earnestness, such despair, in her manner that her words arrested me, and I stood Irresolute before the door. “1 will trust you on one condition, and on one condition only,’ sald T at last, ‘It ts that this mys: tery comes to an end from now, You are at liberty to preserve your seoret, but must promise me that there shall be no more nightly visits, no more doings which are kept from my knowledge. I am willing to forget those which are passed If you will promise that there shall be no more in the future,’ “"'T was sure that you would trust me,’ she cried, with a great sigh of relief, ‘It shall be just as you wish, Come away—oh, come away up to the house.’ “Still pulling at my sleeve, she led me away trom the cottage, As we went I glanced back, and there wae that yellow, lvid face watohing us out of the upper windc What link could iiere be between that creature and my wife? Or, how could the coarse, rough woman whom T had seen the day be- fore connected with her? It was a strange pifs- ale, and yet I knew that my mind could never know ease again until I had polved jt, “For two days after this I stayed at home, and my wife appeared to abide loyally by our enga ment, for, as fur as { know, she never stirred out of the house, On the third day, however, I had ample evidence that her solemn promise was not enough to hold her back from this secret influenee which drew her away from her husband and her duty, “IT had gone into town bhat day, but T returned by the 240 instead of the 3,36, which is my usted train. As T entered the house the mald ran inte the tall with a startled face, “Where Is your mistress?” 1 asked, ““T think that she has gone out for a walt,’ te answered, “My mind was Instantly ANed with suspicion, © rushed upstairs to make: sure that she was not im the house, As I did so I happened to glance out of one of the upper windows, and saw the maid with whom [f had just been speaking running across the fleld In the direction of the cottage, Then of course T saw exactly what it all meant. My wife had gone over there, and had asked the seryant to call her If T should return. ‘Tingling with anger, I rushed down and hurried across, deiermined to end the matter! once and forever, T saw my wife and the mald hur rying back along the lane, but 1 did not stop to speak with them, In the cottage lay the secret: which was casting a shadow over my life, T vowed that, come what might, it should be a secret Ho longer, 1 did not even knock when f reached tt, but turned the handle and rushed into the passage, “It was all still and quiet upon the ground floor, In the kitchen a Kettle was singing on the fire, and a large black cat lay coiled up In the basket; but there was no sign of the woman whom I had seen before, I ran into the other room, but It was equally deserted, Then I rushed up the stairs, only to find two other rooms empty and deserted at the top, ‘There was no one at all in the whole house, ‘I'he furniture and pictures were of the most common and vulgar description, ave in the one chamber at the window of which [ had seen the strange face, That was comfortable and elegant, and all my # plelons rose Into a fierce, bitter flame when I saw that on the mantelpiece stood a copy of # fully length photograph of my wife, which had been taken at my request only three months ago. 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