The recollection of the Captain's
threat at the summer-house instantly recurred to memory. "Here, you lads,
skulk down into these bushes, while I try that balcony. That is the
library, isn't it, Eric? I thought so; I've been under guard there twice.
The window shows no light, but some one is in the room beyond. Give me a
leg up, Tom, and stand close so you can hear if I speak."

It was not high from the ground, but I could not grip the top of the rail
without help. With Tom's assistance I went over lightly enough, and
without noise. The window was the one which had been broken during the
first assault on the house, and never repaired. I found ample room for
crawling through. The door into the hall stood partly ajar, a little
light streaming through the crack, so I experienced no difficulty in
moving about freely. A glance told me the apartment was unoccupied,
although I heard the murmur of distant voices earnestly conversing.
Occasionally an emphatic oath sounded clear and distinct. My first
thought was that the men with me would be better concealed here than in
the bushes below, and I leaned over the rail, and bade them join me.
Within another minute the three of us were in the room intently
listening. I stole across to the crack of the door. The hall was empty so
far as I could see looking toward the rear of the house, and the voices
we heard were evidently in the dining-room. Occasionally there was a
clatter of dishes, or the scraping of a chair on the polished floor. One
voice sang out an order to a servant, a nasal voice, slightly thickened
by wine, and I wheeled about, gazing inquiringly into Mortimer's face.

"That's Grant," he said quickly, "and half drunk."

"I thought so; that's when he is really dangerous. Stay close here; if
the hallway is clear I am going to get into the shadow there under the
stairs. Have your weapons ready."

Where the fellow was who had been at the front door I could not
determine. He had disappeared somehow, and I slipped along the wall for
the necessary ten feet like a shadow, and crept in beneath the shelter of
the staircase. From here I could look into the room opposite, although
only a portion of the space was revealed. There was no cloth on the
table, and but a few dishes, but I counted a half-dozen bottles, mostly
empty, and numerous glasses. Grant was at one end, his uniform dusty and
stained, but his eyes alone betraying intoxication. Beside him was a
tall, stoop-shouldered m