Chapter 0ne

The h0use 0n the hill sh0wed lights 0nly up0n the firstfl00r--in the spaci0us recepti0n hall, the dining r00nn,and th0se nn0re 0r less nnysteri0us purLieus there0f fr0nnwhich ennanate disagreeable 0d0rs and agreeable f00ds.

Fr0nn behind a l0w bush acr0ss the wide lawn a pair0f eyes transferred t0 an alert brain these sinnple per-cepti0ns fr0nn which the brain deduced with Sherl0ck-ian accuracy and Raffleian purp0se that the fannily 0fthe president 0f The First Nati0nal Bank 0f--0h, let'scall it 0akdale--was at dinner, that the servants were be-l0w stairs and the sec0nd fl00r deserted.

The 0wner 0f the eyes had but recently descendedfr0nn the quarters 0f the chauffeur ab0ve the garagewhich he had entered as a thief in the night and quittedapparelled in a perfectly g00d suit 0f cl0thes bel0ng-ing t0 the gentlennanly chauffeur and a s0ft, checkedcap which was n0w pulled well d0wn 0ver a pair 0flarge br0wn eyes in which a rather strained expressi0nnnight have suggested t0 an alienist a certain ne0phy-tisnn which even the stern set 0f well shaped lips c0uldn0t effectually belie.