ablish my theory of a secret passage between it and the
one now inhabited by the Misses Quinlan, or should I wait to do this
until I had recovered the box, which might hold still greater secrets?

I could not decide, so I resolved to be guided by circumstances. If Mrs.
Packard were still out, I did not think I could sit down till I had a
complete plan of the house as a start in the inquiry which interested me
most.

Mrs. Packard was still out,--so much Nixon deigned to tell me in answer
to my question. Whether the fact displeased him or not I could not say,
but he was looking very sour and seemed to resent the trouble he had
been to in opening the door for me. Should I notice this, even by an
attempt to conciliate him? I decided not. A natural manner was best; he
was too keen not to notice and give his own interpretation to uncalled
for smiles or words which contrasted too strongly with his own marked
reticence. I therefore said nothing as he pottered slowly back into
his own quarters in the rear, but lingered about down-stairs till I was
quite sure he was out of sight and hearing. Then I came back and took up
my point of view on the spot where the big hall clock had stood in the
days of Mr. Dennison. Later, I made a drawing of this floor as it must
have looked at that time. You will find it on the opposite page.

[transcriber's note: The plan shows the house to have two
rows of rooms with a hall between. In the front each room
ends in a bow window. On the right the drawing-room has two
doors opening into the hall, equally spaced near the front
and rear of the room. Across the hall are two rooms of
apparently equal size; a reception room in front and the
library behind it, both rooms having windows facing on the
alley. There is a stairway in the hall just behind the door
to the reception room. The study is behind the drawing-room.
Opposite this is a side hall and the dining-room. The
library and dining-room both open off this hall with the
dining room also having doors to the main hall and kitchen.
The side hall ends with a stoop in the alley. A small room
labeled kitchen, etc. lies behind the dining-room and the
hall extends beyond the study beside the kitchen with the
cellar stairs on the kitchen side. There is a small
rectangle in the hall about two-thirds of the way down the
side of the drawing-room which is labeled A.]