d oppressed by the desolate appearance of the almost
deserted street. But amongst those persons I thought I recognised more
than one familiar form, and felt reassured as to the watch which had
been set upon the house.

The night was dark and the river especially so, but in the gloomy space
beyond the dock I detected a shadow blacker than the rest, which I took
for the police boat they had promised to have in readiness in case I
needed rescue from the waterside. Otherwise the surroundings were as
usual, and saving the gruff singing of some drunken sailor coming from a
narrow side street near by, no sound disturbed the somewhat lugubrious
silence of this weird and forsaken spot.

Pausing an instant before entering, I glanced up at the building, which
was about three stories high, and endeavoured to see what there was
about it which had once arrested my attention, and came to the
conclusion that it was its exceptional situation on the dock, and the
ghostly effect of the hoisting-beam projecting from the upper story like
a gibbet. And yet this beam was common to many a warehouse in the
vicinity, though in none of them were there any such signs of life as
proceeded from the curious mixture of sail loft, boat shop, and drinking
saloon, now before me. Could it be that the ban of criminality was upon
the house, and that I had been conscious of this without being able to
realise the cause of my interest?

Not stopping to solve my sensations further, I tried the door, and,
finding it yield easily to my touch, turned the knob and entered. For a
moment I was blinded by the smoky glare of the heated atmosphere into
which I stepped, but presently I was able to distinguish the vague
outlines of an oyster bar in the distance, and the motionless figures of
some half-dozen men, whose movements had been arrested by my sudden
entrance. For an instant this picture remained; then the drinking and
card playing were resumed, and I stood, as it were, alone, on the sanded
floor near the door.

Improving the opportunity for a closer inspection of the place, I was
struck by its picturesqueness. It had evidently been once used as a ship
chandlery, and on the walls, which were but partly plastered, there
still hung old bits of marlin, rusty rings, and such other evidences of
former traffic as did not interfere with the present more lucrative
business.

Below were the two bars, one at the right of the door, and the other at
the lower end of the