es. Time after time he lowered his line until at
length in pulling it up he heard a little metallic tinkle against the
side of the well.

He held his breath then, and forgetting his fears drew the line in inch
by inch, so as not to lose its precious burden. His pulse beat rapidly,
and his eyes were bright. As the line came slowly in he saw the catch
hanging to the hook, and with a steady hand drew the last few feet in.
Then he saw that instead of the bracelet he had hooked a bunch of keys.

With a faint cry he shook them from the hook into the water below, and
stood breathing heavily. Not a sound broke the stillness of the night.
He walked up and down a bit and stretched his great muscles; then he came
back to the well and resumed his task.

For an hour or more the line was lowered without result. In his
eagerness he forgot his fears, and with eyes bent down the well fished
slowly and carefully. Twice the hook became entangled in something, and
was with difficulty released. It caught a third time, and all his
efforts failed' to free it. Then he dropped the line down the well,
and with head bent walked toward the house.

He went first to the stables at the rear, and then retiring to his room
for some time paced restlessly up and down. Then without removing his
clothes he flung himself upon the bed and fell into a troubled sleep.

III.

Long before anybody else was astir he arose and stole softly downstairs.
The sunlight was stealing in at every crevice, and flashing in long
streaks across the darkened rooms. The dining-room into which he looked
struck chill and cheerless in the dark yellow light which came through
the lowered blinds. He remembered that it had the same appearance when
his father lay dead in the house; now, as then, everything seemed ghastly
and unreal; the very chairs standing as their occupants had left them the
night before seemed to be indulging in some dark communication of ideas.

Slowly and noiselessly he opened the hall door and passed into the
fragrant air beyond. The sun was shining on the drenched grass and
trees, and a slowly vanishing white mist rolled like smoke about the
grounds. For a moment he stood, breathing deeply the sweet air of the
morning, and then walked slowly in the direction of the stables.

The rusty creaking of a pump-handle and a spatter of water upon the
red-tiled courtyard showed that somebody else was astir, and a few steps
farther he beheld a brawny