d not sleep. I saw the ghostly
appearance each time: and I was struck by the difference in the second.
It was a more ghostly affair altogether. I saw, in fact, only a hand and
part of an arm."

Laurence went hurriedly to the door opposite that by which he had
entered, and turned the handle: locked on the outside, as he had left
it!

"The first came that way," said Meredith, who had followed him with his
eyes; "but not the other."

"Meredith, it was I who came, and I came but once!" ejaculated Laurence,
shudderingly.

He covered his face with his hands a few moments; then, in sudden
desperation, confessed the whole truth. "I meant to rob you! I dressed
up as the monk for the purpose. I took the book, intending to abstract
five hundred pounds; and, if you woke and challenged me, was going to
say that it was done to try your pluck. I had taken it to my room. It
lay on the table before me, and I was about to open it, when a feeling I
can't describe came over me. I knew I was not alone. I was sitting
before the dressing-table, and, glancing into the glass, saw the
reflection of a figure standing behind me--the figure of a monk! A
deathlike hand was put forth. I saw the fingers close over the book, and
then I suppose I lost consciousness, for I can remember no more."

"The monk!" Meredith gazed at the other, and became gravely silent
again.

[Illustration: "THE MONK!"]

"I was in terrible straits," hurriedly went on Laurence. "I meant last
night to appeal to you for a loan; but I fancied you seemed rather hard
and stand-offish, and what I had to tell was not easy to tell. There was
a prison before me, Meredith, unless I could get money, which there
seemed no chance of my being able to get, and the knowledge that you had
all those notes about you tempted me. I meant to take the five hundred,
put the rest back, and trust to the chance of your not suspecting how it
had gone. Of course, I cheated myself with the belief that if I could
set myself straight this time, I would put my shoulder to the wheel and
repay you somehow. I think I see myself as I am--now, and I know I shall
not again try to retrieve my fortunes that way. You can't despise me
more than I despise myself!"

"I am very sorry," said Meredith. "I did not imagine you were in such
immediate necessity. I only wish you had told me last night, when all
this might have been prevented"--still speaking a little abstractedly.
Was it to be regretted, after all, tha