man who had set the club by the ears.

"I don't know, Dan, but this has taken so strong a hold on me that I
shan't forget it soon. Imagine it yourself. Oh, but she could sing! I am
a man not to be held in the leash of an adventure like this; but she
held me. How? By the hope that one day I might see her face, with no
veil of mystery to hold her off at arm's length."

Merrihew was greatly excited. He was for ordering a second bottle, but
Hillard stayed him.

"By George! And you are sure that it was at the Sandfords'?"

"I am positive. But there is a puzzle that I have failed to solve:
Sandford's cable and the caretaker's declaration. I know that I was in
that house. I ran across a stein which I had given Sandford. I have
inquired of the police; they had been requested to watch the house in
the absence of the owner. The patrolman says that he has seen no light
in the house since the family sailed for Africa. I sleep soundly; never
have nightmares. And yet, but for her letters and the fact that Giovanni
heard her sing under my window, I might almost believe I've been
dreaming. It is no dream; but it begins to look as if I were the victim
of some fine hoax."

"And Sandford mixed up in it," supplemented Merrihew.

"Sandford and I are good friends, but we are not so intimate that he'd
take the pains to work out a hoax of this magnitude. It did not
originate with him, and his wife is altogether out of the picture. If I
had only seen her face, I might have forgotten all about her in a few
days. But the mask, the charm, the mystery! I can't get her out of my
thoughts; I am irrational in all I do; an absolute failure in the
office."

"It is more than a hoax, in my opinion. Wait till Sandford returns and
finds his silver gone!"

Hillard started.

"And his gold-plate," continued Merrihew, pleased with the idea. "My
boy, that's what it is; the best dodge I ever heard of. But how did they
get into the house, she and her maid? It will make a good story for the
Sunday papers. You won't be in it, unless she ropes you in as an
accomplice. That would be rich!"

"I'm a romantic ass!" Hillard sighed. Leddy Lightfinger! If this turned
out to be the case, he would never trust a human being again; he would
take to breeding dogs.

"Let's take that ride on the horses," Merrihew urged. "That'll clear
your brain of this sentimental fog."

"No!" Hillard struck his hands together. "I've a better idea than that,
and it has just come