e the fireplace and the door.

There was no sound to break the silence. The figure in the oak chair sat
motionless. He might have been carved out of stone, for any sign of life
he gave. He looked like stone,--white and black marble very finely
sculptured,--white marble in head and hands, black marble in the piercing
eyes, the long satin dressing-gown, the oak of the big chair. Even his
eyes seemed stone-like, motionless, and fixed thoughtfully on space.

To those perceptive of "atmosphere" there is a subtle difference in
silence. There is the silence of woods, the silence of plains, the
silence of death, the silence of sleep, and the silence of wakefulness.
This silence was the last named. It was a silence alert, alive, yet very
still.

A slight movement in the room, so slight as to be almost imperceptible,
roused him to the present. Life sprang to his eyes, puzzled, questioning;
his body motionless, they turned towards the middle window of the three,
from whence the movement appeared to have come. It was not repeated. The
old utter silence lay upon the place; yet Nicholas Danver kept his eyes
upon the curtain.

The minutes passed. Then once more came that almost imperceptible
movement.

Nicholas Danver's well-bred old voice broke the silence.

"Why not come into the room?" it suggested quietly. There was a gleam of
ironical humour in his eyes.

The curtains swung apart, and a man came from between them. He stood
blinking towards the light.

"How did you know I was there, sir?" came the gruff inquiry.

"I didn't know," said Nicholas, accurately truthful. "I merely guessed."

There was a pause.

"Well?" said Nicholas watching the man keenly. "By the way, I suppose you
know I am entirely at your mercy. I could ring this bell," he indicated
an electric button attached to the arm of his chair, "but I suppose it
would be at least three minutes before any one came. Yes," he continued
thoughtfully, "allowing for the distance from the servants' quarters, I
should say it would be at least three minutes. You could get through a
fair amount of business in three minutes. Was it the candlesticks you
wanted?" He looked towards a pair of solid silver candlesticks on the
mantelpiece. "They are cumbersome, you know. Or the miniatures? There are
three Cosways and four Engleharts. I should recommend the miniatures."

"I wanted to see you," said the man bluntly.

"Indeed!" Nicholas's white eyebrows rose the fraction of an in