.

SEARCHINGS.
I seemed bound to be the prey of a divided duty.

As I crossed the street, I asked myself which of the two experiments I had in mind should occupy my attention first.

Should I proceed at once with that close study and detailed examination of the house, which I contemplated in my eagerness to establish my theory of a secret passage between it and the one now inhabited by the Misses Quinlan, or should I wait to do this until I had recovered the box, which might hold still greater secrets?
I could not decide, so I resolved to be guided by circumstances.

If Mrs.
Packard were still out, I did not think I could sit down till I had a complete plan of the house as a start in the inquiry which interested me most.
Mrs.Packard was still out,--so much Nixon deigned to tell me in answer to my question.