it will," answered Mannering. "The inquiry
will proceed, whatever happens to-night, and we may all have to go to
London to attend it. After they have turned Chadlands and everybody
in it upside down, as they surely will, then we may be called, if they
arrive at no conclusion."

"I am prepared to be. I shall not leave the country, of course, until I
receive permission to do so. It must be apparent to everybody that I am,
of all men, if not the most involved, at least the most anxious to clear
this mystery--that nobody can doubt."

"Then you must conserve your strength and be guided," said Mannering.
"I do beg of you to retire now, and insist upon Mary doing the same.
Nothing can be gained by the dead, and necessary energy is lost to the
living by this irrational vigil. It is far past midnight; I beg you to
retire, Sir Walter, and Mary, too. There is nothing that should keep you
out of bed, and I urge you to go to it."

But the elder refused.

"Few will sleep under this roof to-night," he said. "There is a spirit
of human anxiety and distress apparent, and naturally so. I will stay
here with this good man. He is better company than many of the living. I
feel a great peace here. The dead sustains me."

He joined Mannering, however, in an appeal to his daughter, and,
satisfied that their friend would not be far off at any time, Mary
presently left them. She declared herself as not anxious or nervous. She
had never believed that anything but natural causes were responsible for
her husband's death, and felt an assurance that morning would bring
some measure, at least, of explanation. She went out of the room with
Mannering, and, promising her to keep a close watch on her father, the
doctor left Mary, lighted his pipe, and strolled to the billiard-room.
Presently he patrolled the hall and pursued his own reflections. Where
his thoughts bent, there his body unconsciously turned, and, forgetting
the injunction of the silent men aloft--indeed, forgetting them also for
a moment--Mannering ascended the stairs and proceeded along the corridor
toward the Grey Room. But he did not get far. Out of the darkness a
figure rose and stopped him. The man turned an electric torch on Dr.
Mannering, and recognized him. It appeared that while one detective kept
guard outside, the others watched within. At the sound of voices the
door of the Grey Room opened, and in the bright light that streamed from
it a weird figure stood--a tall, black