I fell asleep finally. As Bessie’s party had commenced at five it was over by eleven. The house was suddenly quiet, and about that time Tony came back and came up to bed. I was dozing off when I heard Roger moving uneasily in the hall. Then he settled down again, and so did I.

It was still dark when I awakened. I had the feeling that someone was in the room. I remember sitting up in bed and saying, “Who is it? Is anything wrong?”

No one answered, and I turned on my reading light and looked over the room. It was empty. So was my sitting room, but when I glanced into the hall Roger was not there. That made me uneasy. Downstairs all seemed quiet, but it was unusual for the big dog to leave my door. I wondered if he had been let out and not brought in again.

My clock said half past three when I put on my house coat and went downstairs. Roger was in the west hall, lying close to the door and whimpering, and I saw at once that the chain was off. When I tried the door it was unlocked.

I was still not alarmed. I opened the door to let the dog out, and stood waiting for him. If I thought at all, it was that the tired servants had overlooked the door, or that some of Bessie’s party had opened it. Even when I saw the light in the playhouse I was only annoyed. My first idea was that some of Bessie’s party had stayed on, to sleep in the guest rooms there. But the light was in the living room, and it looked more like firelight than anything else.

That worried me. The fire there, when it was used, was always put out before the place was locked for the night. And Roger had not come back. I whistled for him, but he did not appear.

It was a black cold night outside. There had been a light rain earlier. Later it had turned to snow. It had stopped, but there was a thin powdering of it on the ground. I could see Roger’s footprints, heading toward the playhouse, and at last I decided to follow him. I was still not uneasy. Someone had lit a fire and left it, and I cursed Bessie and all her works as I felt my way toward it.

I got there safely enough, and I felt for the doorknob. But I could not find it. The door was standing open, and from somewhere inside Roger suddenly gave a long, heartbreaking wail.

It practically shattered me. My first impulse was to run wildly back to the house. Everything was quiet, however, although from somewhere there came the sound of running water. Then, my eyes accustomed to the dark, I found that the fire from the living room sent a faint glow into the hall. Roger was standing there, looking at me. I remember scolding him, although my voice was shaky. “Keep quiet,” I said. “You’re a damned nuisance, and I’m fed up with you.”