I dismissed him as quickly as possible, and listened to his step through the halls as he went about locking the doors. This was a regular incident, but I was aware to-night that he exercised what seemed to me a particular care in settling the bolts. The locking-up process had rather bored me before; to-night the snapping of bolts was particularly trying. When I heard Bates climbing to his own quarters I quietly went the rounds on my own account and found everything as tight as a drum. In the cellar I took occasion to roll some barrels of cement into the end of the corridor, to cover and block the trap door. Bates had no manner of business in that part of the house, as the heating apparatus was under the kitchen and accessible by an independent stairway. I had no immediate use for the hidden passage to the chapel—and I did not intend that my enemies should avail themselves of it. Morgan, at least, knew of it and, while he was not likely to trouble me at once, I had resolved to guard every point in our pleasant game. I was tired enough to sleep when I went to my room, and after an eventless night, woke to a clear day and keener air. “I’m going to take a little run into the village, Bates,” I remarked at breakfast. “Very good, sir. The weather’s quite cleared.” “If any one should call I’ll be back in an hour or so.” “Yes, sir.” He turned his impenetrable face toward me as I rose. There was, of course, no chance whatever that any one would call to see me; the Reverend Paul Stoddard was the only human being, except Bates, Morgan and the man who brought up my baggage, who had crossed the threshold since my arrival. I really had an errand in the village. I wished to visit the hardware store and buy some cartridges, but Pickering’s presence in the community was a disturbing factor in my mind. I wished to get sight of him,— to meet him, if possible, and see how a man, whose schemes were so deep, looked in the light of day. As I left the grounds and gained the highway Stoddard fell in with me. “Well, Mr. Glenarm, I’m glad to see you abroad so early. With that library of yours the temptation must be strong to stay within doors. But a man’s got to subject himself to the sun and wind. Even a good wetting now and then is salutary.” “I try to get out every day,” I answered. “But I’ve chiefly limited myself to the grounds.” “Well, it’s a fine estate. The lake is altogether charming in summer. I quite envy you your fortune.”