to this
moment, had not waked in its high cage, and, thrusting its beak between
the bars, shrilled out in the most alarming of tones: 'Remember Evelyn!'
That startled the old man even more than the sight on the floor had
done. He turned round, and I saw his fist rise as if against some
menacing intruder, but it quickly fell again as his eyes encountered the
picture which hung before him, and with a cringe painful to see in one
of his years, he sidled back till he reached the doorway. Here he paused
a minute to give another look at the man outstretched at his feet, and I
heard him say:

"'It is Amos's son, not Amos! Is it fatality, or did he plan this
meeting, thinking----'

"But here he caught sight of my figure in the antechamber beyond, and
resuming in an instant his former debonair manner, he bowed very low and
opened his lips as if about to ask a question. But he evidently thought
better of it, for he strode by me and made his way to the front door
without a word. Being an intruder myself, I did not like to stop him.
But I am sorry now for the consideration I showed him; for just before
he stepped out, his emotion--the special character of which, I own to
you, I find impossible to understand--culminated in a burst of raucous
laughter which added the final horror to this amazing adventure. Then he
went out, and in the last glimpse I had of him before the door shut he
wore the same look of easy self-satisfaction with which he had entered
this place of death some fifteen minutes before."

"Remarkable! Some secret history there! That man must be found. He can
throw light upon Mr. Adams's past. 'Amos's son,' he called him? Who is
Amos? Mr. Adams's name was Felix. Felix, the son of Amos. Perhaps this
connection of names may lead to something. It is not a common one, and
if given to the papers, may result in our receiving a clew to a mystery
which seems impenetrable. Your stay in Mr. Adams's house was quite
productive, ma'am. Did you prolong it after the departure of this old
man?"

"No, sir, I had had my fill of the mysterious, and left immediately
after him. Ashamed of the spirit of investigation which had led me to
enter the house, I made a street boy the medium of my communication to
the police, and would have been glad if I could have so escaped all
responsibility in the matter. But the irony of fate follows me as it
does others. A clew was left of my presence, which involves me in this
affair, whether I will or