s left loaded in mine) confirmed my
confidence in him.

He would stick at nothing to defend me from the violence of his
bloodthirsty accomplices. But it should not come to that. My legs were
growing firmer under me. I was not going to lie there meekly without
making at least an effort at self-deliverance. If it succeeded--the
idea came to me in a flash--I would send Rattray an ultimatum from the
nearest town; and either Eva should be set instantly and unconditionally
free, or the whole matter be put unreservedly in the hands of the local
police.

There were two lattice windows, both in the same immensely thick wall;
to my joy, I discovered that they overlooked the open premises at the
back of the hall, with the oak-plantation beyond; nor was the distance
to the ground very great. It was the work of a moment to tear the sheets
from the bed, to tie the two ends together and a third round the mullion
by which the larger window was bisected. I had done this, and had let
down my sheets, when a movement below turned my heart to ice. The night
had clouded over. I could see nobody; so much the greater was my alarm.

I withdrew from the window, leaving the sheets hanging, in the hope that
they also might be invisible in the darkness. I put out the candle,
and returned to the window in great perplexity. Next moment I stood
aghast--between the devil and the deep sea. I still heard a something
down below, but a worse sound came to drown it. An unseen hand was very
quietly trying the door which Rattray had locked behind him.

"Diablo!" came to my horrified ears, in a soft, vindictive voice.

"I told ye so," muttered another; "the young swab's got the key."

There was a pause, in which it would seem that Joaquin Santos had his
ear at the empty keyhole.

"I think he must be slipping," at last I heard him sigh. "It was not
necessary to awaken him in this world. It is a peety."

"One kick over the lock would do it," said Harris; "only the young
swab'll hear."

"Not perhaps while he is dancing attendance on the senhora. Was it not
good to send him to her? If he does hear, well, his own turn will come
the queecker, that is all. But it would be better to take them one at a
time; so keeck away, my friend, and I will give him no time to squil."

While my would-be murderers were holding this whispered colloquy, I had
stood half-petrified by the open window; unwilling to slide down the
sheets into the arms of an unseen enemy, though