ond all possibility of a
doubt that he was actually dying.

And again he was thoroughly deceived.

"It's all over with him," he muttered, "and Kendale's secret is safe
between him and me, and he'll have to pay me handsomely to keep it;
that's certain."

On the threshold he halted.

"Dead men tell no tales," he muttered, "and he would be past all
recognition by the time any one came across him in this isolated spot.
Then, again, some one might happen to wander this way.

"It's best to be sure; to put it beyond human power to discover his
identity, and the only way to secure that end is to burn this place. Ay!
that is the surest and safest way to effectually conceal the crime."

He had muttered the words aloud, and they fell distinctly upon the ears
of Lester Armstrong, who had awakened at the sound of his footsteps the
second time, although he had given no sign of having done so. The words
fell with horrible dread upon his ears because of the fact that he was
bound hand and foot by an iron chain, fastened to a heavy ring in the
floor.

For the last week he had used every endeavor to force the links apart,
but they had frustrated his most strenuous efforts.

And he said to himself, if the fiend incarnate before him carried out
his intention of firing the place it would be all over with him. The
horrible smoke would assuredly suffocate him ere he could, even by
exerting the most Herculean strength, succeed in liberating himself.

With bated breath he heard Halloran enter the outer apartment.

And he heard his impatient, muttered imprecations as he fumbled about
for matches, seemingly without finding any.

"This is where I put them," exclaimed Halloran, with an oath, "but they
are not here now."

After a moment's pause his voice broke the awful stillness, exclaiming:

"Ah! here they are! I imagined they were not far away. One should always
know where to put his hands on such things, even in the dark. A whole
bunch of 'em; I did not remember that I had so many!"

For the next few moments Lester heard him walking to and fro, apparently
dragging heavy articles over the floor, and he knew that he was piling
pieces of boards together in the middle of the room to start the blaze.

His blood fairly ran cold in his veins at the thought.

The moments that followed seemed the length of eternity.

Each instant he expected to hear the dull scratching of the matches,
quickly followed by the swift, crackling blaze.