our position, as before agreed upon.

We were the first on the ground. This we did not specially notice then;
but when five, then ten, and next, fifteen minutes elapsed, and the
officer still neglected to make his appearance, our uneasiness became
extreme. Twenty--_twenty-five_ minutes passed; still Cloudsdale was
unaccountably detained. "Can he be already in the rooms above?" we
eagerly asked one another. "Are we not betrayed?" exclaimed I, almost
frantically.

"We have no time to spare in discussion," replied the Doctor, and,
advancing, we tried the door. It was locked. We had brought a
step-ladder, to enter by the window, if necessary. Next, we endeavored
to hoist the window; it was nailed down securely. Leaping to the ground
we made an impetuous, united onset against the door; but it resisted all
our efforts to burst it in. Acting now with all the promptitude demanded
by the occasion, we mounted the ladder, and by a simultaneous movement
broke the sash, and leaped into the room. Groping our way hurriedly to
the stairs, we had placed our feet upon the first step, when our ears
were saluted with one long, loud, agonizing shriek. The next instant we
rushed into the apartment of Lucile, and beheld a sight that seared our
own eyeballs with horror, and baffles any attempt at description.

Before our faces stood the ferocious demon, holding in his arms the
fainting girl, and hurriedly clipping, with a pair of shears, the last
muscles and integuments which held the organ in its place.

"Hold! for God's sake, hold!" shouted Dr. White, and instantly grappled
with the giant. Alas! alas! it was too late, forever! The work had been
done; the eye torn, bleeding, from its socket, and just as the Doctor
laid his arm upon Pollexfen, the ball fell, dripping with gore, into his
left hand.

This is the end of the fourth phase.

PHASE THE FIFTH, AND LAST.

"Monster," cried I, "we arrest you for the crime of mayhem."

"Perhaps, gentlemen," said the photographer, "you will be kind enough to
exhibit your warrant." As he said this, he drew from his pocket with his
right hand, the writ of arrest which had been intrusted to Cloudsdale,
and deliberately lighting it in the candle, burned it to ashes before we
could arrest his movement. Lucile had fallen upon a ready prepared bed,
in a fit of pain, and fainting. The Doctor took his place at her side,
his own eyes streaming with tears, and his very soul heaving with
agitation.

As