lf incredulous for a moment: then I began to
realize that I was standing in front of an open gate looking up an
exceedingly ill-kept drive. At the end of this drive was a house, and
the moonlight shining full on the front of it showed me that the whole
place had about as forlorn and neglected an appearance as an inhabited
building could very well possess. That it was inhabited there could be
no doubt, for in the small glass square above the hall door I could
see a feeble glimmer of light.

No one could have called it an inviting-looking place, but then I
wasn't exactly waiting for invitations where a chance of food was
concerned. I just slipped in at the gate, and keeping well in the
shadow of the bushes that bounded the drive, I crept slowly and
unsteadily forward until I reached a point opposite the front door. I
crouched there for a moment, peering up at the house. Except for that
flickering gas jet there was no sign of life anywhere; all the windows
were shuttered or else in complete darkness.

At first I had a wild idea of ringing the bell and pretending to be
a starving tramp. Then I remembered that my description had no doubt
been circulated all round the neighbourhood, and that if there was
any one in the place they would probably recognize me at once as the
missing convict. This choked me off, for though as a rule I have no
objection to a slight scuffle, I felt that in my present condition the
average housemaid could knock me over with the flick of a duster.

The only alternative scheme that suggested itself to my numbed mind
was to commit another burglary. There was a path running down the side
of the house, which apparently led round to the back, and it struck
me that if I followed this I might possibly come across an unfastened
window. Anyhow, it was no good waiting about till I collapsed from
exhaustion, so, getting on my feet, I slunk along the laurels as far
as the end of the drive, and then crept across in the shadow of an
overhanging tree.

I made my way slowly down the path, keeping one hand against the wall,
and came out into a small square yard, paved with cobbles, where I
found myself looking up at the back of the house. There was a door
in the middle with two windows on either side of it, and above these
several other rooms--all apparently in complete darkness.

I was beginning to feel horribly like fainting, but by sheer
will-power I managed to pull myself together. Going up to the nearest
w