There had once evidently been a partition, but this had been removed, and the attics turned into one long place, so that the whole of the top floor could be seen through at a glance, with its lumber of old cages, bundles of dried herbs, baskets of feathers, and broken furniture-- chairs lame of one leg, halt and rickety tables, and an old wash-stand. In three different corners, chained to staples in the wall, and each with its straw bed, were as many wretched captives, wasting their days in their lofty prison. But these were only three dogs, kept there for reasons best known to the occupant of the house. "Nothing here," was the mental remark of the sergeant, as he made his light play about the place, its rays falling strangely upon each of the dogs in turn, and eliciting howls that were doleful in the extreme. That light, though, was allowed to rest longest upon the fourth corner of the room, where there were three well-filled sacks and a large flat basket. "Look outside the window; there's a parapet out there in the front. One of you had better crawl along a little each way, and see if you can make anything out," said the sergeant, who directly after turned to another of his men. "Here, you!" he exclaimed, "climb up there," and he pointed to a half-closed trapdoor in the ceiling. His orders were obeyed, the bystanders watching eagerly the progress of events, till the man who had somewhat nervously forced his way through the trap came back covered with whitewash and cobwebs, which he brushed impatiently from his uniform. "Well?" said the sergeant, as the man descended by means of the broken wash-stand and chair, which had been used for escalading purposes. "No one been up there this side o' six months ago, I'll swear," said the man; "the cobwebs would have told you that if you'd liked to look." The sergeant turned sharply upon his muttering subordinate, but his attention was taken off by the return of the man who had been sent outside to examine the gutter. "Well?" said the sergeant again, as this man climbed back. "Well, I ain't seen nothing," said the latter, dragging one leg after him into the room. "Quiet, will you?" he cried to a dog which bayed at him furiously. "You can go along out there for best part of a mile if you like, dodging in and out, for it seems to be a reg'lar rat's run from winder to winder. There's some nice games carried on, I'll be bound, and any manner of thing might be done here or there, and hidden from place to place without us being a bit the wiser." "How many men would it take to make a good search?" said the sergeant. "Hundred," said his subordinate, gruffly, "would be nowhere. You'd want a man at every door, and at every attic window; and when you tried to stop 'em, they'd slip out somewhere else." The sergeant stood for a moment thinking, and then he made a step towards the sacks, looking curiously at the dog-fancier.