Leaving the doctor with him, the other two men started out in search of the missing captain. They did not find him on the road leading to the cemetery; but when they neared the vault they found the door half opened, while the sound of maniacal singing came out through the night. They pushed the door wide open, and there by the dim light of the lanterns a strange sight shocked their gaze.
Two of the coffins were broken open. One was empty; but partially in the other and partly scattered about the tomb, as if thrown as a child tosses its playthings, were some ghastly things, the sight of which made young Churchill sick and faint. On the edge of the coffin in which the body of the tramp had been placed sat Van Patten; but he did not look up as they entered. They brought the light close to his face, but he only leered vacantly at them and continued singing.
In one hand he held something on which he was trying to fit his fur glove, and at his feet lay a torn black neckcloth.
THE STORY THE DOCTOR TOLD.
THE STORY THE DOCTOR TOLD.