“There is nothing I detest more than I do a mystery of any sort. Notwithstanding my abhorrence of it, I now found myself, by some unaccountable cause, entangled in a most singular and inexplicable web of mystery. The more I struggled to extricate myself from it the lower down did I plunge, until despite my efforts I found myself inundated and helpless. “One evening, after I had performed a very hard day’s work at the drug-store, I hurried home to seek that rest which the excessive labor of the day caused me to need. It was some time after dark when I lifted the latch of the gate which stood in front of Doctor Dodson’s handsome residence and began to walk leisurely along the gravel road leading toward the house. The night was unusually dark, the sky being totally obscured by innumerable black, angry clouds, while ever and anon the sound of distant thunder announced the approaching storm, and an occasional flash of lightning would every now and then cast a bright light around me. I halted a few paces from the gate, leaned against one of the tall poplar trees that stood near the edge of the road, and took off my hat, to let the cool fresh breeze fan my fevered brow. My head was aching severely, my cheeks were hot, and the blood in my veins seemed to be boiling; I concluded that a few moments spent in the open air would relieve me. Soon after I had halted I thought I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the spot where I stood. I knew it was not Doctor Dodson, for he had left town early in the morning to visit a patient in the country, informing me that he would not be home until next day. I became convinced that the grounds had been invaded by some one--perhaps a thief who was waiting for an opportunity to rob the house. I tried to peer through the darkness, hoping to see the intruder, but I was straining my eyes in vain, for I could not distinguish any object at a distance of ten feet, except when the space was momentarily lighted up by the flashes of electricity that often blazed among the clouds. Sometimes I would imagine that I had been deceived; but my doubts were finally set at rest when I distinctly saw the form of a man as he dodged behind a tree just as a bright streak of lightning blazed for a second about me. “‘Who are you, and what do you want here at this late hour?’ I demanded in a loud tone. “‘Fly for your life, Ed--your hiding-place is discovered; you have no time to spare--the officers are after you--large rewards have been offered for your capture, dead or alive--get away as soon as you can!’ “Those words were uttered in a suppressed tone, while the speaker still remained concealed behind the tree, only exposing his head to my view, which I could plainly see every time the lightning would flash. “‘Who are you?’