the air of a prison. The green blinds were all drawn down upon the
outside; the door into the verandah was closed; the garden, as far

as he could see it, was left entirely to itself in the evening
sunshine. A modest curl of smoke from a single chimney alone

testified to the presence of living people.
In order that he might not be entirely idle, and to give a certain

colour to his way of life, Francis had purchased Euclid's Geometry
in French, which he set himself to copy and translate on the top of

his portmanteau and seated on the floor against the wall; for he
was equally without chair or table. From time to time he would

rise and cast a glance into the enclosure of the house with the
green blinds; but the windows remained obstinately closed and the

garden empty.
Only late in the evening did anything occur to reward his continued

attention. Between nine and ten the sharp tinkle of a bell aroused
him from a fit of dozing; and he sprang to his observatory in time

to hear an important noise of locks being opened and bars removed,
and to see Mr. Vandeleur, carrying a lantern and clothed in a

flowing robe of black velvet with a skull-cap to match, issue from
under the verandah and proceed leisurely towards the garden gate.

The sound of bolts and bars was then repeated; and a moment after
Francis perceived the Dictator escorting into the house, in the

mobile light of the lantern, an individual of the lowest and most
despicable appearance.

Half-an-hour afterwards the visitor was reconducted to the street;
and Mr. Vandeleur, setting his light upon one of the rustic tables,

finished a cigar with great deliberation under the foliage of the
chestnut. Francis, peering through a clear space among the leaves,

was able to follow his gestures as he threw away the ash or enjoyed
a copious inhalation; and beheld a cloud upon the old man's brow

and a forcible action of the lips, which testified to some deep and
probably painful train of thought. The cigar was already almost at

an end, when the voice of a young girl was heard suddenly crying
the hour from the interior of the house.

"In a moment," replied John Vandeleur.
And, with that, he threw away the stump and, taking up the lantern,

sailed away under the verandah for the night. As soon as the door
was closed, absolute darkness fell upon the house; Francis might

try his eyesight as much as he pleased, he could not detect so much
as a single chink of light below a blind; and he concluded, with

great good sense, that the bed-chambers were all upon the other
side.

Early the next morning (for he was early awake after an
uncomfortable night upon the floor), he saw cause to adopt a

different explanation. The blinds rose, one after another, by
means of a spring in the interior, and disclosed steel shutters

such as we see on the front of shops; these in their turn were
rolled up by a similar contrivance; and for the space of about an

hour, the chambers were left open to the morning air. At the end
of that time Mr. Vandeleur, with his own hand, once more closed the

shutters and replaced the blinds from within.
While Francis was still marvelling at these precautions, the door

opened and a young girl came forth to look about her in the garden.
It was not two minutes before she re-entered the house, but even in

that short time he saw enough to convince him that she possessed
the most unusual attractions. His curiosity was not only highly

excited by this incident, but his spirits were improved to a still
more notable degree. The alarming manners and more than equivocal

life of his father ceased from that moment to prey upon his mind;
from that moment he embraced his new family with ardour; and

whether the young lady should prove his sister or his wife, he felt
convinced she was an angel in disguise. So much was this the case

that he was seized with a sudden horror when he reflected how
little he really knew, and how possible it was that he had followed

the wrong person when he followed Mr. Vandeleur.
The porter, whom he consulted, could afford him little information;

but, such as it was, it had a mysterious and questionable sound.
The person next door was an English gentleman of extraordinary

wealth, and proportionately eccentric in his tastes and habits. He
possessed great collections, which he kept in the house beside him;

and it was to protect these that he had fitted the place with steel
shutters, elaborate fastenings, and CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE along the

garden wall. He lived much alone, in spite of some strange
visitors with whom, it seemed, he had business to transact; and

there was no one else in the house, except Mademoiselle and an old
woman servant

"Is Mademoiselle his daughter?" inquired Francis.
"Certainly," replied the porter. "Mademoiselle is the daughter of

the house; and strange it is to see how she is made to work. For
all his riches, it is she who goes to market; and every day in the

week you may see her going by with a basket on her arm."
"And the collections?" asked the other.

"Sir," said the man, "they are immenselyvaluable. More I cannot
tell you. Since M. de Vandeleur's arrival no one in the quarter

has so much as passed the door."
"Suppose not," returned Francis, "you must surely have some notion

what these famous galleries contain. Is it pictures, silks,
statues, jewels, or what?"

"My faith, sir," said the fellow with a shrug, "it might be
carrots, and still I could not tell you. How should I know? The

house is kept like a garrison, as you perceive."
And then as Francis was returning disappointed to his room, the

porter called him back.
"I have just remembered, sir," said he. "M. de Vandeleur has been

in all parts of the world, and I once heard the old woman declare
that he had brought many diamonds back with him. If that be the

truth, there must be a fine show behind those shutters."
By an early hour on Sunday Francis was in his place at the theatre.

The seat which had been taken for him was only two or three numbers
from the left-hand side, and directly opposite one of the lower

boxes. As the seat had been specially chosen there was doubtless
something to be learned from its position; and he judged by an

instinct that the box upon his right was, in some way or other, to
be connected with the drama in which he ignorantly played a part.

Indeed, it was so situated that its occupants could safely observe
him from beginning to end of the piece, if they were so minded;

while, profiting by the depth, they could screen themselves
sufficiently well from any counter-examination on his side. He

promised himself not to leave it for a moment out of sight; and
whilst he scanned the rest of the theatre, or made a show of

attending to the business of the stage, he always kept a corner of
an eye upon the empty box.

The second act had been some time in progress, and was even drawing
towards a close, when the door opened and two persons entered and

ensconced themselves in the darkest of the shade. Francis could
hardly control his emotion. It was Mr. Vandeleur and his daughter.

The blood came and went in his arteries and veins with stunning
activity; his ears sang; his head turned. He dared not look lest

he should awake suspicion; his play-bill, which he kept reading
from end to end and over and over again, turned from white to red

before his eyes; and when he cast a glance upon the stage, it
seemed incalculably far away, and he found the voices and gestures

of the actors to the last degree impertinent and absurd.
From time to time he risked a momentary look in the direction which

principally interested him; and once at least he felt certain that
his eyes encountered those of the young girl. A shock passed over

his body, and he saw all the colours of the rainbow. What would he
not have given to overhear what passed between the Vandeleurs?

What would he not have given for the courage to take up his opera-
glass and steadilyinspect their attitude and expression? There,

for aught he knew, his whole life was being decided - and he not
able to interfere, not able even to follow the debate, but

condemned to sit and suffer where he was, in impotent anxiety.