ed sound of his hurried tread barely disturbed the
silence that hung, close and heavy, over the rooms; that brooding
silence of the late hours of the night which seems to have hushed all
the sounds that ever were, but out of which almost any sound might be
born.

As he rushed through drawing room, chambers, dining room, library,
like another Wandering Jew urged pitilessly, incessantly, back and
forth in a contracted round, not another living eye did his own
encounter in the brilliantly lighted rooms. He was entirely alone. But
every now and then his voice rang sharply through the stillness in
angry, resentful, resolute tones.

"You shall not! You shall not!" he shouted, shaking his fist at the
empty air and squaring his shoulders as though he expected some
ghostly enemy to materialize from behind a door or out of the folds of
a portiere.

He threw off his coat and waistcoat and, wiping the sweat from his
face, hurried on again in his ceaseless round.

In the dining room he halted at the sideboard and filled a glass with
brandy and soda. It was his custom to drink sparingly at all times
and when alone he rarely touched liquor of any sort. So now, when he
saw how much of the brandy bottle was empty, he gave a low whistle of
amazement.

"What!" he exclaimed. "Have I drank all that tonight? And I wouldn't
know that I'd taken a drop!"

He swallowed the mixture eagerly, as if it were some elixir from which
he expected to gain new strength, and turned back upon his tramp. As
he passed through his bedroom his gaze longingly sought the bed and
his steps wavered toward it. His eyelids yearned for sleep and his
strength was ebbing. With a stiffening of his muscles and a clenching
of his fists he held himself steadily on his course.

"No, you don't," he muttered. "I won't give in! Do you hear me? I will
not give in!"

He marched on, his head thrust forward, his mouth set hard in dogged
determination and his hands clenched in his pockets. As he passed
through the library he suddenly wavered and a spasm of apprehension
crossed his face. He paused uncertainly for a moment, then strode to
the entrance door of the apartment, made sure that it was locked, and
brought the key back with him. A gleam of triumph mingled with the
fear and anxiety in his face and eyes as he turned the combination
lock of a little safe set in the wall behind a screen. The door swung
open and with a smile of exultation he put the key inside and was
a