“Let us get in the house, where the rain can’t reach us,” answered his chum, and lost no time in ringing the door bell. There was no answer to the summons, and Andy rang the bell again. Then, of a sudden, the wind increased, and the door of the mansion was blown wide open. Thinking somebody had unfastened the door and been unable to hold it against the wind, the acrobatic youth entered the hallway beyond, and was followed by Pepper. “Excuse us, but we came in to get out of the storm,” said Andy, trying to see around him, for with the darkness outside the hallway was pitch black. To his astonishment nobody answered. A gust of wind came into the hallway and lifting a picture from its nail hurled it to the floor with a crash. Then Pepper caught the door and shut and bolted it. “Anybody here?” he called out. Nobody answered, and each of the cadets caught the other by the arm. “I—I guess the door just blew open,” stammered Andy. The situation was so unusual he knew not what to say. Here they were in a strange house with nobody to speak to them. The boys could not see a thing, saving when the lightning outside lit up the scene. They felt their way through the hallway to a door and entered what appeared to be a parlor. The apartment had a musty smell, as if it had not been opened for a long time. The blinds were closed but the slats were open and through these faint light showed. “Looks to me as if this house was deserted, too,” remarked Pepper. “Gracious, the whole neighborhood must be moving out!” “Somebody lives here, I am sure of that,” answered his chum. “Out in the hall I smelt the odor of fried onions.” “Let us walk back to the kitchen and find out,” said Pepper. A flash of lightning made the boys pause for a moment. Then they walked to the end of the hallway and entered a dining room. Here a window was open and through this the rain was sweeping wildly. “The owner of this place must be away,” said Andy. “Gosh! how it rains!” he added, as he shut the window. “Look at the quaint silver set!” said Pepper, his eyes catching sight of the service on a sideboard. “That must be pretty old.” He picked up a silver dish and Andy picked up another. As they were looking at the silver pieces they heard a door open and felt a sudden gust of air. “Somebody is here——” commended Pepper, when he fell back in sudden alarm. For from out of a dark corner an old man had appeared. He wore a long, white beard and his straggling hair was of the same color. In his hands he carried a short shotgun and this he had leveled straight ahead of him. “Burglars! thieves! robbers!” he screamed. “Drop my silver plate or I will shoot you!” His manner was so stern and wild that the two cadets lost no time in setting down the silver pieces they had picked up. The old man continued to point his shotgun, first at Andy and then at Pepper. “I heard there were burglars in this vicinity,” he said, in a croaking voice. “But I did not think you would dare to come here.”