ding beside the craggy shore, a strange and imposing figure in
the wealth of moonlight, at the edge of that tranquil water.

Pescini, after all, was showing himself one of the most self-mastered
men among us. Any one could read the fact in his voice. How white his
skin looked in the moonlight, how raven-black his mustache and beard! He
was still in the garb he had worn at dinner, immaculate and unruffled.

"We're not getting anywhere," he said. "Is every one here?"

"Here!" It was Joe Nopp's voice, and he immediately joined us. We waited
an instant, seeing if any further searchers were yet to come in. But the
thickets were as hushed as the lagoon itself.

"Let's take another tack," Pescini said. "There's nothing in these
gardens. If there is we'll find it in an organized search. Remember--our
search got us nowhere last night. Let's count up, and see if we're all
all right."

We waited for him to continue. All of us breathed deeply and hard.

"Then let's go up to the house to do it," Nopp suggested. "We know we're
not all here now--there's no use getting alarmed before we're sure. Go
up to the living-room."

His voice was oddly penetrative, wakening a whole flood of unwelcome
thoughts.... We were not all here, he said--seemingly not even all the
white occupants of Kastle Krags had obeyed the common instinct to answer
and investigate that cry! Yet it all might come to nothing, after all. A
close tabulation might account for every one--and that the remainder of
our party had merely not yet wakened. Stranger things have happened.
We told ourselves, in silent ways, that we had heard of men sleeping
through more fearful sounds than that! I agreed with Nopp that the thing
to do was to go to the living-room, make a careful count, and then see
where we stood.

In a moment we had started back. We were not afraid we had left some of
our party still searching through the gardens. No man cared to be alone
out there to-night, and all of us kept close track of our fellows. Edith
was standing just before the veranda, on the driveway, as we came up.
The coroner, who had taken time fully to dress, met us half-way down the
lawns.

We walked almost in silence; and quietly, rather grimly, Joe Nopp
flashed on all the lights of the big living-room.

"Go ahead, Slatterly," he said to the sheriff, "See that we're all
here."

"Let Killdare do it. I don't know you all, you know----"

So I made the count, just as sometimes we did aft