scharged the driver and in a moment was standing in a big
living-room that exhaled an atmosphere of comfort and good taste. On
every hand were the evidences of a hasty abandonment of the house by its
recent occupants. A waste-paper basket by a writing table in one corner
overflowed with scraps of discarded letters; the family had evidently
snatched a hasty luncheon before leaving and the dining table had not
been cleared. A doll lay sprawled on the landing as he made his way
upstairs, and in the bed chambers empty chiffonier drawers gaped as
though from surprise at their hasty evacuation. He made a survey of the
whole premises and then went through again from cellar to garret
checking off his sister's queries. There was something disconcerting in
the intense silence of the place broken only by the periodic thump of
the sea at the base of the cliff.

The house would serve the Featherstones admirably. There was even the
sleeping porch opening from the nursery that his sister had expressly
stipulated and a tiny retreat back of the living-room with desk and
shelves that would meet the requirements of his congressman
brother-in-law at such times as he might find it possible to join his
family.

Fully satisfied with his investigations, Archie picked up a book with a
paper-cutter thrust through it to mark the place of its last reader,
became absorbed and read until he, was roused by a clap of thunder that
seemed to shake the world. Hurrying to the window he found that the
storm had already broken. There was a greenish light over the sea and
the waves had begun to smite the rocks with dismaying ferocity. To catch
the five eleven he would have to leave at once, and he seized his
belongings and opened the door, but upon stepping out upon the veranda
the walk he had contemplated along the shore path to the village seemed
a foolhardy thing to undertake. An unearthly darkness had fallen upon
the world and a misstep in the rough path over the rocks might pitch him
headlong into the sea. He had marked the presence of a telephone in the
house and decided to summon a taxi, but as he clapped the receiver to
his ear he was startled by a blinding glare and the crack of a mighty
whip overhead. He snatched the instrument again and bawled into it, but
it was buzzing queerly and he sprang away from it as another glare lit
up the room.

He turned on the lights and sat down to think. He might return by the
highway over which he had reached th