firm tread was on the floor and it could be heard passing clear
across the apartment, then returning and then going from side to
side. At length the sound of moving furniture was heard. It was as
if a person were lifting a heavy wardrobe or bureau, and getting it
with some difficulty from one part of the room to the other.

"What can he be doing?" questioned Mrs. Craig, with great alarm.

"He is going to barricade the door, most likely," replied her
husband.

"Barricade the door? What for? Good heavens, Mr. Craig! He may have
killed his wife. She may be lying in there dead at this very moment.
Oh, it is fearful! Can nothing be done?"

"Nothing, that I know of, except to break into the room."

"Hadn't you better rouse some of the boarders, or call a waiter and
send for the police?"

The voice of Mrs. Abercrombie was heard at this moment. It was calm
and clear.

"Let me help you, general," she said.

The noise of moving furniture became instantly still. It seemed as
if the madman had turned in surprise from his work and stood
confronting his wife, but whether in wrath, or not it was impossible
to conjecture. They might hear her fall to the floor, stricken down
by her husband, or cry out in mortal agony at any moment. The