at full length, was the recumbent figure of a man.

He was apparently in the profound sleep of utter exhaustion. The
attitude of his limbs and the order of his dress--of which only his
collar and cravat had been loosened--showed that sleep must have
overtaken him almost instantly. In fact, the bed was scarcely
disturbed beyond the actual impress of his figure. He seemed to be a
handsome, matured man of about forty; his dark straight hair was a
little thinned over the temples, although his long heavy moustache was
still youthful and virgin. His clothes, which were elegantly cut and
of finer material than that in ordinary use, the delicacy and neatness
of his linen, the whiteness of his hands, and, more particularly, a
certain dissipated pallor of complexion and lines of recklessness on
the brow and cheek, indicated to Herbert that the man before him was
one of that desperate and suspected class--some of whose proscribed
members he had been hunting--the professional gambler!

Possibly the magnetism of Herbert's intent and astonished gaze affected
him. He moved slightly, half opened his eyes, said "Halloo, Tap,"
rubbed them again, wholly opened them, fixed them with a lazy stare on
Herbert, and said:

"Now, who the devil are you?"

"I think I have the right to ask that question, considering that this
is my room," said Herbert sharply.

"YOUR room?"

"Yes!"

The stranger half raised himself on his elbow, glanced round the room,
settled himself slowly back on the pillows, with his hands clasped
lightly behind his head, dropped his eyelids, smiled, and said:

"Rats!"

"What?" demanded Herbert, with a resentful sense of sacrilege to
Cherry's virgin slang.

"Well, old rats then! D'ye think I don't know this shebang? Look
here, Johnny, what are you putting on all this side for, eh? What's
your little game? Where's Tappington?"

"If you mean Mr. Brooks, the son of this house, who formerly lived in
this room," replied Herbert, with a formal precision intended to show a
doubt of the stranger's knowledge of Tappington, "you ought to know
that he has left town."

"Left town!" echoed the stranger, raising himself again. "Oh, I see!
getting rather too warm for him here? Humph! I ought to have thought
of that. Well, you know, he DID take mighty big risks, anyway!" He
was silent a moment, with his brows knit and a rather dangerous
expression in his handsome face. "So some d--d hound gave him
away--eh?"

"I