Page:The Whisper on the Stair by Lyon Mearson (1924).djvu/212

 as though it were a small thing he had done. It was pleasant to smoke one’s cigar like this and to think these thoughts here, in the light, after a satisfying dinner.

The sky was overcast and lowering when Val started out after dinner. The street lamps in Old Point Comfort dispelled the gloom but faintly, and in a few minutes he was out of their range altogether, swallowed up in the dark gloom of a chilly Virginia night.

At Hampton he stopped, sought out a hardware store, and bought a small lantern. He figured he would need it at the old house. He had it filled carefully with oil, saw that the wick extended the proper distance, and was on his way in a very short time.

Down the winding paths to the Pomeroy place he chugged. He saw the lights of the cottage long before he came close to it, and it came to him suddenly that perhaps Teck was still there. How could he tell whether Teck had already gone, or not? That being the case, it occurred to him that he had better come on the scene as quietly as possible. He did not want Teck to know that he was here to-night; if he intended to work without interruption, it would be better that Teck did not know. Certainly the handless one would take means to prevent his searching for the treasure. Teck would not give up so easily as that.

A quarter of a mile from the cottage Val parked his car by the side of the road, well out of sight, and continued on foot. Silently he crept up to the cottage, merging with the shadows on the road, carrying his unlighted lantern in one hand. At the cottage Val crept up to one of the lighted living room windows and glanced in through the light curtains.

He had done well in making his entrance upon the