Page:Magician 1908.djvu/275

 Arthur handed him a revolver.

“Take this. It will reassure you, but you will have no need of it. I bought it the other day when—I had other plans.”

Susie gave a little shudder. They reached the drive and walked to the great portico which adorned the façade of the house. Arthur tried the handle, but it would not open.

“Will you wait here?” he said. “I can get through one of the windows, and I will let you in.”

He left them. They stood quietly there, with anxious hearts; they could not guess what they would see. They were afraid that something would happen to Arthur, and Susie regretted that she had not insisted on going with him. Suddenly she remembered that awful moment when the light of the lamp had been thrown where all expected to see a body, and there was nothing.

“What do you think it meant?” she cried suddenly. “What is the explanation?”

“Perhaps we shall see now,” answered the doctor.

Arthur still lingered, and she could not imagine what had become of him. All sorts of horrible fancies passed through her mind, and she dreaded she knew not what. At last they heard a footstep inside the house, and the door was opened.

“I was convinced that nobody slept here, but I was obliged to make sure. I had some difficulty in getting in.”

Susie hesitated to enter. She did not know what horrors awaited her, and the darkness was terrifying.

“I cannot see,” she said.