re
three doors to the Fairbrother house, as you probably know. Two on
Eighty-sixth Street (the large front one and a small one connecting
directly with the turret stairs), and one on Eighty-seventh Street. It
was to the latter I had a key. I do not think any one saw me go in. It
was raining, and such people as went by were more concerned in keeping
their umbrellas properly over their heads than in watching men skulking
about in doorways.

"I got in, then, all right, and, being careful to close the door behind
me, went up the first short flight of steps to what I knew must be the
main hall. I had been given a plan of the interior, and I had studied it
more or less before starting out, but I knew that I should get lost if
I did not keep to the rear staircase, at the top of which I expected to
find the steward's room. There was a faint light in the house, in spite
of its closed shutters and tightly-drawn shades; and, having a certain
dread of using my torch, knowing my weakness for pretty things and how
hard it would be for me to pass so many fine rooms without looking in,
I made my way up stairs, with no other guide than the hand-rail. When I
had reached what I took to be the third floor I stopped. Finding it very
dark, I first listened--a natural instinct with us--then I lit up and
looked about me.

"I was in a large hall, empty as a vault and almost as desolate.
Blank doors met my eyes in all directions, with here and there an open
passageway. I felt myself in a maze. I had no idea which was the door I
sought, and it is not pleasant to turn unaccustomed knobs in a shut-up
house at midnight, with the rain pouring in torrents and the wind making
pandemonium in a half-dozen great chimneys.

"But it had to be done, and I went at it in regular order till I came
to a little narrow one opening on the turret-stair. This gave me my
bearings. Sears' room adjoined the staircase. There was no difficulty in
spotting the exact door now and, merely stopping to close the opening I
had made to this little staircase, I crossed to this door and flung it
open. I had been right in my calculations. It was the steward's room,
and I made at once for the desk."

"And you found--?"

"Mostly locked drawers. But a key on my bunch opened some of these and
my knife the rest. Here are the specimens of his handwriting which
I collected. I doubt if you will get much out of them. I saw nothing
compromising in the whole room, but then I hadn't time