I changed in five minutes, arguing with Larry the while. Romance was rampant in Larry, and he could not understand anybody who started out on an adventure without packing a gun. “Come now, sor, do but slip it in yer pocket. ’Tis maybe not likely ye’ll want it, but if ye do, ye’ll want it terrible bad. See, sor, it fits snug——” “Get out with you, Larry, this isn’t the Wild West. Besides, I can’t afford to have the entire population about my ears, as they would be if I began shooting the thing off. I’m not coming to blows with any one to-night, anyway.” Larry shook his head sadly. “Well, sor, I wish ye’d take it,” he said. In this instance and in another one, later, Larry’s instinct was a good deal better than my judgment. Just before I left the apartment I rang up Mrs. Trevor. But Natalie had not returned and I started with a heavy heart. Last of all, I warned Larry to stay near the telephone, to answer Moore if he called. Then I sallied forth to speak to the driver of the Bengal. I found him where Larry had told him to wait and arranged with him that he should park the car just round the corner from Moore’s house and lounge on the corner, where he could keep an eye on both me and the house. From his grin, I imagine that he thought I was planning an abduction. But he did what he was told. I stationed myself in the window of a corner drug-store, across the street from the car, and waited, keeping a sharp eye on Moore’s house. It was a long wait. Seven o’clock came and passed, with the driver of the Bengal kicking his heels on the opposite curb and I lounging about the drug-store and staring down the inquiring glances of an anemic-looking drug clerk. At seven-ten I bought some cigars that I did not want. At seven-thirty I bought and drank one of the most horrible soft drinks that I have ever encountered. And at seven-forty-five I began to get desperate. However, I waited until eight o’clock before I ventured out of the shelter of the store. The street was deserted except for a limousine drawn up near an apartment house at the other end of the block. I walked slowly towards Moore’s house, signaling to my driver to stay where he was. In front of the house I hesitated for a moment or two. Then I rang Moore’s bell. There was no answer. I rang again. Still no answer. So at last I opened the door with the duplicate key Moore had given me and mounted the familiar stairs to his apartment. Arrived at his door, I knocked several times. But apparently his rooms were empty, and I was just turning away in indecision when I remembered that I had a key to his front door also. His living-room was very much as I remembered it. But it was quite empty. Things were going wrong with my plans that day with a vengeance. “Moore!” I called. “Oh, Moore!”