"Oh, yes; I could not thoroughly waken you, all I could do; you seemed
to be in a sort of stupor. But I was certain that I heard a voice,
something too human in its sound to be the fury of the storm. It was
dark here, and the door was shut."

"The deuce it was! I left the lamp burning, and the door wide open; the
wind must have done that work."

"It was as I tell you; and I went out, having lighted the lamp, and saw
them in the very act, Wilkins, of finishing their robbery. Had I not
been so weak and ill I would have cried aloud to you; but I came upon
them so suddenly--so unexpectedly to myself, in the faint light, that I
was surprised, for the moment, into silence, and then one turned, and
raised his dirk to stab me; but the other, who had on his face a hideous
mask, averted the blow."

"And you fainted?"

"I remember no more," said Guly, shuddering, as he rejected the too
familiar tones, which, in that dread moment, had fallen on his ear.

"I fear," said Wilkins, kindly, "that this excitement has been too much
for you. If you will remain here, and try to get some rest, I will look
after the affairs in the store, and will call up Arthur and Jeff to
assist me."

At the mention of Arthur's name, Guly looked anxious, but expressed his
willingness to accede to this proposition. So, taking the lamp, the
head clerk turned his steps toward the gloomy room at the stair-head,
first taking a casual view of the confusion manifest in the store.

It was not without some slight suspicions, and many misgivings, that
Wilkins went in search of Arthur; but as he pushed open the door, and
looked into the room, an expression of immense relief passed over his
features, and with a freer step he approached his bedside.

Arthur lay there, apparently in a profound slumber. One arm was thrown
listlessly above his head, his dark curls, disheveled and tangled, were
stroked back from his brow, and his cheeks, though hotly flushed, looked
as if bearing the bright glow of some pleasant dream.

Wilkins laid a hand upon his arm, and awakened him. The young man
started up in bed, impatiently asking the cause of his being thus
disturbed. Wilkins told him in as few words as possible, and turned to
awaken Jeff, while Arthur hastily proceeded to dress himself. To his
surprise the head clerk found Jeff already awake, and trembling like an
aspen leaf, as he sat up on his mattress, looking in dismay at Wilkins.

"What's the matter with you, Je