his own mind until later. As he
approached, the man turned, saw him, and reeled against the door as if
he had been drinking.

"'Sa-ay, boy!' he drawled. 'Wha's matter with lock? Can't open m'
door.'

"He put the key in his pocket as he spoke, but that, too, Johnnie did
not think of until afterward.

"'That isn't your door, sir. Those are Mr. Pennington Lawton's rooms,'
Johnnie told him. 'What is the number on your key?'

"The man produced a key from his pocket and gave it to Johnnie in a
stupid, dazed sort of way. The key was numbered seventy-three.

"'That's your suite, just across the hall, sir,' Johnnie said. He
unlocked the door for the newcomer, who muttered thickly about the
hall being d----d confusing to a stranger, and gave him a dollar.
Johnnie waited until the man had lurched into his rooms, then asked if
he wanted ice-water. Receiving no reply but a mumbled curse, he
withdrew, but not before he had seen the light switched on, and the
man cross to the door and shut it. The stranger no longer lurched
about, but walked erectly and his face had lost the sagged, vapid,
drunken look and was surprisingly sober and keen and alert.

"The two boys decided the next day that Addison had come to 'The
Breakers' with the idea of robbing Mr. Lawton, but, as I said, nothing
came of the incident, so they kept it to themselves and in all
probability it had quite passed from their minds until the news of Mr.
Lawton's death recalled it to them."

Suraci paused, and after a moment Blaine suggested tentatively:

"You spoke of a waiter, also, Suraci. Had he anything to add to what
the bell-boys had told you, of this man Addison's peculiar behavior?"

"Yes, sir. It isn't very important, but it sort of confirms what the
first boy said, about the stranger trying to watch the Lawtons,
without being noticed himself, by them. The waiter, Tim Donohue, says
that on the day of his arrival, Addison was seated by the head waiter
at the next table to that occupied by Mr. Lawton, and directly facing
him. Addison entered the dining-room first, ordered a big luncheon,
and was half-way through it when the Lawtons entered. No sooner were
they seated, than he got up precipitately and left the room. That
night, at dinner, he refused the table he had occupied at the first
meal, and insisted upon being seated at one somewhere back of Mr.
Lawton.

"This Donohue is a genial, kind-hearted soul, and he was a favorite
with the bell-hops because