you want me to blow your fool
head off? Where are the jewels?"

"Jewels?" repeated Miss Farrar. "I have no jewels!"

"You lie!" shrieked the little man. "He said the house was full of
jewels. We heard him. He said he would stay to guard the jewels."

Miss Farrar recognized his error. She remembered Lathrop's jest, and
that it had been made while the two men were within hearing, behind the
stone wall.

"It was a joke!" she cried. "Leave at once!" She backed swiftly toward
the open window that looked upon the road. "Or I'll call your
sergeant!"

"If you go near that window or scream," whispered the rat-like one,
"I'll shoot!"

A heavy voice, speaking suddenly from the doorway, shook Miss Farrar's
jangled nerves into fresh panic.

"She won't scream," said the voice.

In the door Miss Farrar saw the bulky form of the sergeant, blocking her
escape.

Without shifting his eyes from Miss Farrar, the man with the gun cursed
breathlessly at the other. "Why didn't you keep her away?" he panted.

"An automobile stopped in front of the gate," explained the sergeant.
"Have you got them?" he demanded.

"No!" returned the other. "Nothing! She won't tell where they are."

The older man laughed. "Oh, yes, she'll tell," he whispered. His voice
was still low and suave, but it carried with it the weight of a threat,
and the threat, although unspoken, filled Miss Farrar with alarm. Her
eyes, wide with concern, turned fearfully from one man to the other.

The sergeant stretched his hands toward her, the fingers working and
making clutches in the air. The look in his eyes was quite terrifying.

"If you don't tell," he said slowly, "I'll choke it out of you!"

If his intention was to frighten the girl, he succeeded admirably. With
her hands clasped to her throat, Miss Farrar sank against the wall. She
saw no chance of escape. The way to the door was barred, and should she
drop to the garden below, from the window, before she could reach the
road the men would overtake her. Even should she reach the road, the
house nearest was a half mile distant.

The sergeant came close, his fingers opening and closing in front of her
eyes. He raised his voice to a harsh, bellowing roar. "I'm going to make
you tell!" he shouted. "I'm going to choke it out of you!"

Although she was alone in the house, although on every side the pine
woods encompassed her, Miss Farrar threw all her strength into one long,
piercing cry for help. And upon the