Over and over I read the note, at first rapturously, afterwards with a
second feeling mingling with my joy. How did she know it was I who had
taken up my residence at River Hall? Not a soul I knew in London,
besides Mr. Craven, was aware of the fact, and he had promised
faithfully to keep my secret.
Where, then, had Miss Elmsdale obtained her information? from whom
had she learned that I was bent on solving the mystery of the
"Uninhabited House"?
I puzzled myself over these questions till my brain grew uneasy with
vain conjectures.
Let me imagine what I would--let me force my thoughts into what grooves
I might--the moment the mental pressure was removed, my suspicions
fluttered back to the man whose face seemed not unfamiliar.
"I am confident he wants to keep that house vacant," I decided. "Once
let me discover who he is, and the mystery of the 'Uninhabited House'
shall not long remain a mystery."
But then the trouble chanced to be how to find out who he was. I could
not watch and be watched at the same time, and I did not wish to take
anyone into my confidence, least of all a professional detective.
So far fortune had stood my friend; I had learnt something suspected by
no one else, and I made up my mind to trust to the chapter of accidents
for further information on the subject of my unknown friend.
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