“I suppose I was fast asleep,” he thought, and was about to lie down again. Then the house door, caught by the storm, slammed noisily to, so that the whole house shook. He jumped up, terrified What is that? The house door open, father not back yet? The next moment he had thrown on his coat and trousers, and with bare feet and bare head rushed out. The door which led from his father’s bedroom into the hall stood wide open. Pale with anxiety, he stepped towards the bed--it had not been used, only on the foot of it there was an impression on the feather quilt So his father had been sitting there without stirring for more than an hour and a half--evidently waiting till he himself was asleep. What in the name of Heaven did all this mean? His look wandered searchingly round the room. The worsted slippers in which his father generally crept about the house were thrown in the corner, but the boots, which for months had been standing there unused, were gone. What? Did his lame father want to go for a ramble in the middle of the night? His heart almost stopped beating He rushed out into the yard. It was as clear as daylight, only as far as the shadow of the barn extended night still reigned. The storm howled among the trees, the glistening white sand was whirled in the air, otherwise all was silent and deserted. He hastened through the garden--no trace of him--to the back of the stables--still no trace of him. Ah, what did this mean? The gate open? Where had he gone? The dog near him whined, he hastily unfastened his chain. “Seek for your master, Turk. Seek.” The dog sniffed about on the ground and ran to the front of the barn, where the bundles of straw were lying piled up like pale mountains of sand along the wall. The moonlight was dazzling on the whitewashed wall, and lay bright and glittering on the ground One might have found a pin by its light. There was nothing to be noticed, except in one place the straw seemed disarranged. But stop! how does the ladder come here, which is leaning against the wall? The ladder which but two hours ago was lying flat along the inside of the fence? Who has taken it from its place? And, by heaven!--what is this?-- Who has opened the window of the loft, which he himself had bolted from the inside before the barn was filled with the sheaves? Below at the foot of the ladder, the ground looked moist, as if a liquid had been spilled. An odor of petroleum rose from the spot. With trembling hands he seized the straw which was strewn on the ground. Yes, it was wet, and the obnoxious odor communicated itself to the fingers that touched it. He felt his knees tremble under him, a dull, terrible foreboding clouded his senses. With difficulty he raised himself up and mounted the ladder, till he reached the window of the loft. The dog whined below. “Seek for your master, Turk. Seek!” The animal broke out into a joyous howl and ran sniffing round and round, till he seemed to have found the scent.