stared around him in blank amazement. Where was Ah Ben? He too had
departed with the rest. Dazed and wondering, Henley sauntered toward
the door, or rather to where the door had once stood, now only an
open portal of crumbling stone, from the crevices of which grew
bushes and a tangled network of vines. Climbing down over a mass of
fallen bricks, he wandered out into the grounds. The lawn was buried
beneath a confused jumble of rubbish and weeds, and the forest
encroached upon its rights. The graveled road was no longer visible,
wild grass, moss, and piles of fallen stone having covered it far
below. As he looked above, the moon shone through the casement of a
ruined window, and an owl hooted dismally from the open belfry. The
old house was a wreck, a tottering ruin, from whatever point he
looked; and no room above or below seemed habitable. He walked around
to see if the blank wall which guarded the secret chamber was still
intact. Yes, there it was; it alone remained untouched by the ravages
of time or war. The portraits and human remains were probably safe in
their hiding place, and Paul shuddered at the thought. What hand had
bound them up in that strange old corner to be hid forever from the
eyes of men? He had heard no human word, nor was there apparently any
shelter where man or woman could live. Presently amid the deep
shadows of the forest something moved. It came nearer, and then from
beneath the trees walked out into the moonlight. Paul started; but at
the same moment a familiar voice spoke to him. It was Ah Ben's.

"Do not let what you see alarm you, Mr. Henley, for it is the first
time in which you have perceived Guir House in what you would call
its normal state. As you now behold it, the majority of men would see
it."

"Then I have been duped ever since my arrival!" exclaimed Paul in a