ot the man at
all; the man I am looking for is rather young and a decided blond.
I am sorry to have troubled you, madam; I beg a thousand pardons,"
and with profuse apologies he bowed himself down the steps, to the
evident relief of the landlady.

As the door closed behind him, Mr. Rosenbaum paused a moment to
reconnoitre. The house he had just left was the only habitable
building visible in the immediate vicinity, but a few rods farther
down the street was a small cabin, whose dilapidated appearance
indicated that it was unoccupied. Approaching the cabin cautiously,
Mr. Rosenbaum tried the door; it offered but slight resistance, and,
entering, he found it, as he had surmised, empty and deserted.
Stationing himself near a window which overlooked No. 545, he
regarded the isolated dwelling with considerable interest. It was
a two-story structure with a long extension in the rear, only one
story in height. With the exception of a dim light in this rear
portion, the house was entirely dark, which led Mr. Rosenbaum to
the conclusion that the landlady's private apartments were in this
part of the building and remote from the room occupied by her lodger,
which he surmised to be the front room on the second floor, a side
window of which faced the cabin.

For more than an hour Mr. Rosenbaum remained at his post, and at
last had the satisfaction of seeing the tall figure in the fur coat
approaching down the dimly lighted street. He ascended the steps
of 545, let himself in with a night-key, and a moment later the gas
in the upper front room was turned on, showing Mr. Rosenbaum's
surmise to be correct. For an instant the flaring flame revealed
a pale face without the dark glasses, and with a full, dark beard
tinged with gray; then it was lowered and the window blinds were
closely drawn, precluding the possibility of further observation.
The face was like and yet unlike what Mr. Rosenbaum had expected
to see; he determined upon a nearer and better view, without the
dark glasses, before making any decisive move.

The following evening, as soon as it was dusk, found Mr. Rosenbaum
again at the window of the deserted cabin, keenly observant of No.
545. A faint light burned in the rear of the lower floor, while in
the front room upstairs a fire was evidently burning in an open
grate, the rest of the house being in darkness. Presently a man's
figure, tall and well formed, could be seen pacing up and down the
room, appearing,