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Show brighj morning light, I felt that I might hav been unduly auspicious and had fled from harmless citizens; and I was i ashamed that I had lacked courage to f return to Henry's room as I made my. j way thither for a change of clothes. T - thought better of my decision, however, as I stepped within the gloomy walls of the house of mystery, and my footfalls ! echoed through the chilling silence of ' the halls. And I lost all regret over ; my last night's lack of courage when I 1 reached my door. It -was swung an inoh 1 ajar, and as I approached I thought I i saw it move. 5 "I'm certain I locked it," tras my inward comment. I stopped short and hunted mv re- volver from my overcoat pocket, t was ' nervous for a moment, and angry at the ; inattention that might have cost me roy life. s "Who's theref" I demanded. .- i No reply. I gave a knock on the door at long reach. " i , There was no sound and I gave i pufh that sent it open while I pnidrjl- ly kept behind the fortification of Tno casing. As no developments followed' this move, I peeped through the door in cautious investigation. The room was quite empty, and I walked in. The sight that met my eyes was astonishing. as-tonishing. Clothes, books, papers, were scattered over the floor and bed and . chairs. The carpet had been partly ripped up, the mattress torn apart, the closet cleared out, and every corner of the room had been ransacked. It was clear to my eye that this was no ordinary case of robbery. The search, it was evident, was not for money and jewelry alone, and bulkier property had been despised. The mj who had torn the place to pieces ntilK J, I surmised, have been after papers some kind. V I came at once to the conclusion that I had been favored by a visit from my friends, the enemy. As they had failed to find me in, they had looked for some written memoranda of the object of their search. r . I knew well that they had found nothing among the clothing or papers that Henry had left behind. I had searched through these myself, and the ; sole document that could bear on the mystery was at that moment fast in my inside pocket. I was inclined to scout the idea that Henry Wilton had hidden anything under the carpet, or in the mattress, or in any secret place. The threads of the mystery were earned in his head, and the correspondence, if there had been any, was destroyed. As I was engaged in putting the room to rights, the door swung back, and I jumped to my feet to face a man who stood on the threshold. "Hello!" he cried. "House-clean-ing again t" It was Dicky Nahl, and ' he paused with a smile on his face. "Ah. Dicky!" I said, with an effort to keep out of my face and voice the , suspicions I had gained from the inci- f dents of the visit to the Borton place. "Entirely unpremeditated, I assure you." "Well, you're making a thorough job f' of it," he" said with a langh. . I "Pact is," said I ruefully, "I've been entertaining angels of the bl""lc kind unawares. I was from home lst night, and I find that somebody has made himself free with my property I while I was away. " "Whewl" whistled Dicky. "Guess they were after you." (To Be Continued.) "BLINDFOLDED." BY EAELE ASHLEY WALCOTT. Copyright, 1906, by The Bobbs-Merrill Company. CHAPTER XII. The incident gave me a distaste for the idea of going back to Henrv Wilton's Wil-ton's room at this time of the" night. So as Montgomery street was reached I stepped into the Lick house, where I felt reasonably sure that I might get at least, one night's sleep, free from the haunting fear of the. assassin. But, once more safe, the charms of Luella Knapp again claimed the major ?art of my thoughts, and when I went o sleep it was with her scornful words ringing in my ears. . I awoke in the darkness perhaps it was in but a few minutes with the confused dream that Luella Knapp was seized in the grasp of the snake-eyed Terrill, and I was truggling to come to her assistance and seize him by his hateful throat. But, becoming calm from this exciting vision, I slept soundfy until the morn- ing sun peeped into the room with the cheerful announcement that a new day was born. Tn the fresh morning air and the |