A slight shiver on Ransom’s part was the sole answer he gave to this innuendo; then both settled themselves to work, the eyes of either flashing hither and thither from one small object to another, in this seemingly deserted room.  In the momentary silence which followed, the even breathing of the woman in the adjoining room could be distinctly heard.  It seemed to affect Mr. Ransom deeply, though he strove hard to maintain the business-like attitude he had assumed from the beginning of this unofficial examination.

“She has confided nothing more to you since your return from the river bank?” suggested the lawyer.

“No.”

The word came sharply, considering Mr. Ransom’s usual manner.  The lawyer showed surprise but no resentment, and turned his attention to the bag both had noted lying open on two chairs.

“Nothing equivocal here,” he declared, after a moment’s careful scrutiny of its remaining contents.  “The only comment I should make in regard to what I find here is that all the articles are less carefully chosen than you would expect from one of your wife’s fondness for fine appointments.”

“They were collected in a hurry and possibly by telephone,” returned the unhappy husband, after a shrinking glance into the bag.  “The ones she provided in anticipation of her wedding are at the hotel in New York.  In the trunks and bags there you will find articles as elegant as you could wish.”  Here he turned to the dresser, and pointed to the various objects grouped upon it.

“These show that she arranged herself with care for her meeting with you last night.  How did she appear at that interview?  Natural?”

“Hardly; she was much too excited.  But I had no suspicion of what she was cherishing in her mind.  I thought her intentions whimsical, and endeavored to edge in a little advice, but she was in no mood to receive it.  Her mind was too full of what she intended to do.

“Here’s where she ate her supper,” he added, picking up a morsel of crust from a table set against the wall.  “And so this door was found fastened on this side?” he proceeded, laying his hand on the broken lock.

“It had to be burst open, you see.”

“And the window?”

“Was up.  The carpet, as you can tell by look and feeling, is still wet with the soaking it got.”

Mr. Harper’s air changed to one of reluctant conviction.

“The evidence seems conclusive of your wife having left this room and the house in the remarkable manner stated by Miss Hazen.  Yet—­”

This yet showed that he was not as thoroughly convinced as the first phrase would show.  But he added nothing to it; only stood listening, apparently to the even breathing of the sleeper on the other side of this loosely hanging door.

As he did so, his eye encountered the hot, dry gaze of Mr. Ransom, fixed upon him in a suspense too cruel to prolong, and with a sudden change of manner he moved from the door, saying significantly as he led the way out: