mark of
scorching on the walls--the walls of the laundry building at the other
end. You shall see 'em tomorrow." He pointed to the map to indicate the
spot, and then straightened himself and glared about the room as though
he had said something no one could believe and expected contradiction.

"Scorched--just as the faces were," the doctor murmured, looking
significantly at me.

"Scorched--yes," repeated the Colonel, failing to catch the rest of the
sentence in his excitement.

There was a prolonged silence in the room, in which I heard the gurgling
of the oil in the lamp and the click of the coals and the heavy
breathing of our host. The most unwelcome sensations were creeping about
my spine, and I wondered whether my companion would scorn me utterly if
I asked to sleep on the sofa in his room. It was eleven o'clock, I saw
by the clock on the mantelpiece. We had crossed the dividing line and
were now well in the movement of the adventure. The fight between my
interest and my dread became acute. But, even if turning back had been
possible, I think the interest would have easily gained the day.

"I have enemies, of course," I heard the Colonel's rough voice break
into the pause presently, "and have discharged a number of
servants---"

"It's not that," put in John Silence briefly.

"You think not? In a sense I am glad, and yet--there are some things
that can be met and dealt with--"

He left the sentence unfinished, and looked down at the floor with an
expression of grim severity that betrayed a momentary glimpse of
character. This fighting man loathed and abhorred the thought of an
enemy he could not see and come to grips with. Presently he moved over
and sat down in the chair between us. Something like a sigh escaped him.
Dr. Silence said nothing.

"My sister, of course, is kept in ignorance, as far as possible, of all
this," he said disconnectedly, and as if talking to himself. "But even
if she knew she would find matter-of-fact explanations. I only wish I
could. I'm sure they exist."

There came then an interval in the conversation that was very
significant. It did not seem a real pause, or the silence real silence,
for both men continued to think so rapidly and strongly that one almost
imagined their thoughts clothed themselves in words in the air of the
room. I was more than a little keyed up with the strange excitement of
all I had heard, but what stimulated my nerves more than anything else
was the obv