thought that she would go into the private parlor next
her own room to get a breath of fresh air. She felt sure that there she
should be perfectly safe from intrusion, as she knew that the door
leading from the parlor into the corridor was secured from within by a
strong bolt, and the other two doors led, the one into her own little
room, and the other, on the opposite side, into Mrs. Stillwater's. So
that she would be as secluded as in her own chamber.

She slipped on a thin, dark blue silk dressing gown, thrust her feet in
slippers, opened the door and passed into the parlor.

The room was very dark, still and cool. The two side windows overlooking
the alley were open, and a rising breeze from the harbor blew in. Cora
went and sat down in an easy chair in the angle of the corner between an
open side window and her own room door.

The room was pitch dark. The darkness, the coolness, and the stillness
were all so soothing and refreshing to the girl's heated and excited
nerves that she sank back in her high, cushioned chair and dozed off
into sleep--into such a deep and dreamless sleep that she knew nothing
until she was awakened, or rather only half awakened, by the sound of a
key turning in a lock and a door creaking upon its hinges. The sound
seemed to come from the direction of Mrs. Stillwater's room; but Cora
was still half asleep, and almost unconscious of her whereabouts. As in
a dream, she heard some one tiptoe slowly across and jar a chair in the
deep darkness. She heard the bolt of the door leading into the corridor
grate as it was slipped back. This awakened her thoroughly. She was
about to call out:

"Who is there?"

Then a voice that she recognized even in its low, whispering tones spoke
and arrested the words on her lips. It said:

"Fabe! Fabe! is that you?"

"Yes. Is all quiet?"

"Yes; and has been so for hours. Come in. Pass around, feeling by the
wall until you reach the sofa. If you attempt to cross the room, you may
strike a chair or table and make a noise, as I did."

The unseen man cautiously crept around by the wall, feeling his way, but
occasionally striking and jarring a picture frame or looking glass as he
passed, and muttering good-humored little growls of deprecation, and
finally making the sofa creak as he struck and sat heavily down upon it.

Cora was wide awake now, and quite cognizant of the identity of the
invisible persons in the room as that of Mr. Fabian Rockharrt and Mrs.
R