J. S. Fletcher

“ The poor brute was warm. Not so long since its life had coursed joyously enough through its veins, and Brixey uttered a malediction on the folk who had so callously taken it. But there was no use in indulging in sentiment, and he switched off his lamp and went on to the door. ”

“ Folk who do not wish to be followed, he further argued, have some very good reason for desiring to escape pursuit. That, at any rate, seemed clear.
With a quietness that would have done credit to a professional burglar, Brixey crept along to the kitchen door and tried the latch. He was not surprised to find that it tipped easily. The door was unlocked and unbolted. He was inside it in another second and had glided into the living-room and through it to a little hall which divided it from the front of the house. ”

“ At the rear of the tower, among the ruins of one of the transepts, there was a yard, from which admittance could be had to the caretaker's premises. He made his way. through the old masses of fallen masonry to this, passed through a hedge of laurel bushes, and entered the yard.
And there, in one of the lower windows, he saw a faint gleam of light, evidently from a fire. To make his way to that window was the work of a moment. ”