PRESS OF
BRAUNWORTH & CO.
BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS
BROOKLYN, N. Y.

CONTENTS
CHAPTERPAGE
I.The Lady in the Stage Box[1]
II.The Man with the Pale Eyes[12]
III.A Dead Man's Hand[22]
IV.The House by the Lock[30]
V.Was It a Mystery?[38]
VI.An Adventure in the Park[53]
VII.Friends[67]
VIII.An Announcement[74]
IX.Too Late[83]
X."If He Had Committed a Crime"[92]
XI.Wildred Scores[99]
XII.Karine's Engagement Ring[116]
XIII."Kismet and Miss Cunningham"[121]
XIV.An Extra Special[133]
XV.A Mystery of the Thames[136]
XVI.Information Laid by Carson Wildred[143]
XVII.A Disappointment[152]
XVIII.A Desperate Remedy[166]
XIX."Not at Home"[176]
XX.The Quest[188]
XXI.A Picture from the Past[208]
XXII.Face to Face[220]
XXIII.A Counterfeit Presentment[224]
XXIV.Fire![232]
XXV."It's Dogged as Does It"[239]
XXVI.A Tell-tale Ornament[246]
XXVII.Too Late![269]
XXVIII.A Wild-Goose Chase[276]
XXIX.At the House by the Lock[284]
XXX.Conclusion[298]

THE HOUSE BY THE LOCK

CHAPTER I
The Lady in the Stage Box

"Hullo, old chap! Who would ever have thought of seeing you here to-night? What's brought you back to civilisation again?"

I turned suddenly, surprised by the sound of a familiar voice in my ear. It was the night of Christmas Eve, and I was just entering the lobby of the St. James's, the first time, as it happened, I had seen the inside of a theatre for two years.

For the fraction of a moment I could not remember where I had known the man who addressed me so jovially. My way of knocking about the world brought me into contact with so many people that it was difficult to sort my gallery of faces, and keep each one mentally ticketed. But after a second or two of staring through that convenient medium, my monocle, I was able to place the man who had accosted me. He was a rich mining king from Colorado, by the name of Harvey Farnham, whom I had met in Denver, when I had been dawdling through America three or four years ago.