and a certain chill of fear, possessed his spirit. The conduct of

the man with the chin-beard, the terms of the letter, and the

explosion of the early morning, fitted together like parts in some

obscure and mischievous imbroglio. Evil was certainly afoot; evil,

secrecy, terror, and falsehood were the conditions and the passions

of the people among whom he had begun to move, like a blind puppet;

and he who began as a puppet, his experience told him, was often

doomed to perish as a victim.

From the stupor of deep thought into which he had glided with the

letter in his hand, he was awakened by the clatter of the bell. He

glanced from the window; and, conceive his horror and surprise when

he beheld, clustered on the steps, in the front garden and on the

pavement of the street, a formidable posse of police! He started

to the full possession of his powers and courage. Escape, and

escape at any cost, was the one idea that possessed him. Swiftly

and silently he redescended the creaking stairs; he was already in

the passage when a second and more imperious summons from the door

awoke the echoes of the empty house; nor had the bell ceased to

jangle before he had bestridden the window-sill of the parlour and

was lowering himself into the garden. His coat was hooked upon the

iron flower-basket; for a moment he hung dependent heels and head

below; and then, with the noise of rending cloth, and followed by

several pots, he dropped upon the sod. Once more the bell was

rung, and now with furious and repeated peals. The desperate

Challoner turned his eyes on every side. They fell upon the

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