ng about this servant, he answered that his
acquaintance with him was limited to the two occasions on which he had
been ushered by him into his master's presence; that he knew nothing of
his character and general disposition, and could not say whether his
attitude toward his master had been one of allegiance or antagonism.

And so the way was blocked in this direction.

Taken into the room where Mr. Adams had died, he surveyed in amazement
the huge steel plate which still blocked the doorway, and the high
windows through which only a few straggling sunbeams could find their
way.

Pointing to the windows, he remarked:

"These were filled in at Mr. Adams's request. Originally they extended
down to the wainscoting."

He was shown where lath and plaster had been introduced and also how the
plate had been prepared and arranged as a barrier. But he could give no
explanation of it or divine the purpose for which it had been placed
there at so great an expense.

The lamp was another curiosity, and its varying lights the cause of
increased astonishment. Indeed he had known nothing of these
arrangements, having been received in the parlor when he visited the
house, where there was nothing to attract his attention or emphasize the
well-known oddities of his tenant.

He was not shown the starling. That loquacious bird had been removed to
police headquarters for the special delectation of Mr. Gryce.

Other inquiries failed also. No clew to the owner of the insignia found
on the wall could be gained at the pension office or at any of the G. A.
R. posts inside the city. Nor was the name of the artist who had painted
the portrait which adorned so large a portion of the wall a recognized
one in New York City. Otherwise a clew might have been obtained through
him to Mr. Adams's antecedents. All the drawers and receptacles in Mr.
Adams's study had been searched, but no will had been found nor any
business documents. It was as if this strange man had sought to suppress
his identity, or, rather, as if he had outgrown all interest in his kind
or in anything beyond the walls within which he had immured himself.

Late in the afternoon reports began to come in from the various
tradesmen with whom Mr. Adams had done business. They all had something
to say as to the peculiarity of his habits and the freaks of his mute
servant. They were both described as hermits, differing from the rest of
their kind only in that they denied themselves