He had been to the railroad station to meet the last train, thinking it possible that his father might return, and he was confident that he had been the last to enter the house.

He was very sure that he had not left the door unfastened, and this assurance made him confident that some person had entered the house.

The noise at the door of his chamber was not an illusion or a dream: though it had been made by closing rather than by opening it, or he would have been likely to find the intruder in his room when he lighted his lamp.
It seemed to him to be a matter of course that the midnight visitor had come into the mansion for the purpose of plundering its occupants, or of securing the valuables it contained.

Putting his lamp on the table, he went out upon the veranda, and looked all about him.

The grounds were very extensive, and a broad avenue led to the street.