Mr. Smithers answered by gruffly ordering the prisoner to move along with
him.

By some species of inspiration--for, as the era of police uniforms had not
then dawned, it could have been nothing else--the young man conceived the
correct idea of the function of his custodian, and, after verifying his
belief, expressed himself enraptured.

All his perturbation seemed to vanish at the moment.

The affair was getting too deep for Mr. Smithers, who could not fathom the
idea of a midnight malefactor becoming jubilant over his arrest. So he gave
no ear to the torrent of excited explanations that burst upon him, but
silently took the direct route to the station.

Here he resigned his charge to Captain Merrill's care, and, after narrating
the circumstances, went forth again, attended by two choice spirits, to
continue investigations. On reaching Chambers Street, he became confused
and dubious. A row of houses, all precisely alike excepting in color, stood
not far from the corner of Green Street. From a lower window of one of
these he believed that the apparition had sprung; but, in his agitation, he
had neglected to mark with sufficient care the precise spot. Now, no open
window nor any other trace of the event could be discovered.

The three policemen, having arrived at the end of their wits, went back to
the station for an extension.

There they found Captain Morrill listening to a strange and startling
story, the incidents of which can here be more coherently recapitulated
than they were on that occasion by the half-distracted sufferer.