to the wall beyond.
A moment it remained so--then was gone. The room became plunged in
darkness.

Gripping the Browning with nervous fingers I waited, listening
intently; but the silence remained unbroken. My gaze set upon the spot
where the head of this midnight visitant might be expected to appear,
I almost held my breath during the ensuing moments of frightful
suspense.

The door was opening; slowly--slowly--by almost imperceptible degrees.
I held the pistol pointed rigidly before me and my gaze remained fixed
intently on the dimly seen opening. I suppose I acted as ninety-nine
men out of a hundred would have done in like case. Nothing appeared.

Then a voice--a voice that seemed to come from somewhere under the
floor snapped:--

"Good God! it's Petrie!"

I dropped my gaze instantly ... and there, looking up at me from the
floor at my feet, I vaguely discerned the outline of a human head!

"Smith!" I whispered.

Nayland Smith--for indeed it was none other--stood up and entered the
room.

"Thank God you are safe, old man," he said. "But in waiting for one
who is stealthily entering a room, don't, as you love me, take it for
granted that he will enter _upright_. I could have shot you from the
floor with ease! But, mercifully, even in the darkness, I recognized
your Arab slippers!"

"Smith," I said, my heart beating wildly, "I thought you were drugged--
murdered. The port contained an opiate."

"I guessed as much!" snapped Smith. "But despite the excellent tuition
of Dr. Fu-Manchu, I am still childishly trustful; and the fact that I
did not partake of the crusted '45 was not due to any suspicions which
I entertained at that time."

"But, Smith, I saw you drink some port."

"I regret to contradict you, Petrie, but you must be aware that the
state of my liver--due to a long residence in Burma--does not permit
me to indulge in the luxury of port. My share of the '45 now reposes
amid the moss in the tulip-bowl, which you may remember decorated the
dining table! Not desiring to appear churlish, by means of a simple
feat of legerdemain I drank your health and future happiness in claret!

"For God's sake what is going on, Smith? Some one climbed from your
window."

"I climbed from my window!"

"What!" I said dazedly--"it was you! But what does it all mean?
Karamaneh----"

"It is for her I fear, Petrie, now. We have not a moment to waste!"

He made for the door.

"Sir Lionel must be warned at all cost