nd Carrick had come
through. He glanced at the Cockney to see if he, too, had the same
impression. The fellow's head was craned forward, as one who strives to
catch an elusive sound.

"I was sure I 'eard something in there, Mr. Carter," he whispered,
responding to the visual question, as he nodded his head toward the
doorway beyond them. Carter listened intently. It might have been an
atom broken from silence; he was not positive that he had really heard
anything, but he was convinced that the silence had not been unbroken.
They moved cautiously to the door and peered guardedly around its frame.

There is also an actual physical--or, if you choose, psychical
connection between what is seen, what has just missed being seen by an
infinite fraction of time, and what one has imagined one has just seen,
and between these all the scientists of all the ages have not been able
to formulate a real distinction. One's senses, after all, remain the
best guides.

"I just missed seeing something going through that door," whispered
Carrick. It is noticeable, too, that he had said "something" and not
"some one." The gloomy cells, centuries old, the damp memories of the
dungeons still clinging to the walls, together with this weird presence
which eluded their eyes before they could behold it, might well arouse
the superstitions of firmer minds than the Cockney's.

They were approaching the cell in which they had been placed. At last
there was a perfectly appreciable sound. It was a fumbling, as of some
one in the darkness, making hasty efforts to get a key in a lock.
Carter, now bent on discovery, made a rush into the abysmal darkness. He
could see--nothing!

Still he felt that he and Carrick, who had joined him, were not the only
occupants of the room.

Along the hall could be heard the unmistakable sound of approaching
steps.

"Quite a select party, sir," remarked Carrick in comment, while Carter
still tried to pierce the gloom to establish the identity of the
invisible visitant.

"About three," replied Carter.

The sounds stopped directly opposite their door. There was a grating of
a key against the lock and the door swung open.

VIII

THE SPECTRE OF THE STAR

The Gray Man stood in front of the narrow entrance. The sinister smile
which flickered across his face was made diabolic by the cross rays from
the lanterns carried by two peasant soldiers. As if his attendance was
an enforced and unwelcome one, the equ