When they reached the head of the stairs Custer pushed open the first door; the room thus disclosed was in darkness, and the colonel, with a whispered caution to his companions, released his hold on Langham, and striking a match, stepped into the room where, having found the chandelier, he turned on the gas.

As the light flared up, Shrimplin and Watt advanced with their helpless burden.
It was the judge's chamber they had entered and it was not untenanted, for there on the bed lay the judge himself.
It was Langham who first saw that recumbent figure.

A hoarse inarticulate groan escaped him.

He twisted clear of the hands that supported him and by a superhuman effort staggered to his feet, he even took an uncertain step in the direction of the bed, his starting eyes fixed on the spare figure.

Then his strength deserted him and with a cry that rose to a shriek, he pitched forward on his face.
The colonel strode past the fallen man to the bedside, where for an instant he stood looking down on a placid face and into open eyes.