windows were all closely shuttered, the chimneys breathed no
smoke, and the front door itself was closely padlocked. Northmour
therefore had entered by the back; this was the natural, and indeed the
necessary, conclusion; and you may judge of my surprise when, on turning
the house, I found the back-door similarly secured.

My mind at once reverted to the original theory of thieves; and I blamed
myself sharply for my last night's inaction. I examined all the windows
on the lower story, but none of them had been tampered with; I tried the
padlocks, but they were both secure. It thus became a problem how the
thieves, if thieves they were, had managed to enter the house. They must
have got, I reasoned, upon the roof of the outhouse where Northmour
used to keep his photographic battery; and from thence, either by the
window of the study or that of my old bedroom, completed their
burglarious entry.

I followed what I supposed was their example; and, getting on the roof,
tried the shutters of each room. Both were secure; but I was not to be
beaten; and, with a little force, one of them flew open, grazing, as it
did so, the back of my hand. I remember I put the wound to my mouth and
stood for perhaps half a minute licking it like a dog, and mechanically
gazing behind me over the waste links and the sea; and in that space of
time my eye made note of a large schooner yacht some miles to the
north-east. Then I threw up the window and climbed in.

I went over the house, and nothing can express my mystification. There
was no sign of disorder, but, on the contrary, the rooms were unusually
clean and pleasant. I found fires laid ready for lighting; three
bedrooms prepared with a luxury quite foreign to Northmour's habits, and
with water in the ewers and the beds turned down; a table set for three
in the dining-room; and an ample supply of cold meats, game, and
vegetables on the pantry shelves. There were guests expected, that was
plain; but why guests when Northmour hated society? And, above all, why
was the house thus stealthily prepared at dead of night? and why were
the shutters closed and the doors padlocked?

I effaced all traces of my visit, and came forth from the window feeling
sobered and concerned.

The schooner yacht was still in the same place; and it flashed for a
moment through my mind that this might be the _Red Earl_ bringing the
owner of the pavilion and his guests. But the vessel's head was set the
other way.