been tampered with so far as he could discover, and he returned it to the pocket.

The mysterious visitor at the mansion, whoever or whatever he was, could not be regarded as a burglar, or, if he was, he had strangely neglected his opportunities, for he had failed to appropriate at least five hundred dollars worth of watches and money, which he could hardly have helped seeing. His object was not plunder, and there was nothing to indicate the purpose of his visit. In retiring from the house the intruder had left the front door ajar: and Christy thought it would have been the most natural thing in the world to close it, in order to conceal the way by which he had left the mansion. But he might have done this to avoid 28 the noise of shutting it, or had neglected it in his haste to escape.

28

When he had completed his toilet Christy looked at his watch, and was rather surprised to find that it was a full hour later than usual when the call bell had been rung. He went down-stairs, and found his mother and Florry very busy in the dining-room, setting the table. This was the man's work, and the young officer was astonished to see his mother and sister doing it.

"What has broken now, mother?" asked the lieutenant, glancing from one to the other of the busy couple.

"I don't know that anything has broken," replied Mrs. Passford, with a smile, after she had said good-morning to her son.

"You and Florry are not in the habit of setting the table, mother; and the first bell rang an hour later than usual," added Christy.

"We were all disturbed last night, and I did not wake till the cook knocked at my door. She told me she could not find Walsh, and breakfast had been ready half an hour. That is the reason why everything is late this morning," Mrs. Passford explained.

29 "But where is Walsh?" inquired Christy.

29

"I am sure I do not know. I called in the coachman, and he has been to his room and looked all over the place without finding him."

"That is very odd," mused the officer, wondering whether this sudden disappearance had anything to do with the principal event of the preceding night.

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