r realized that in all his plans and precautions he had
never made due allowance for the cunning and depth of this extraordinary
man; but his face expressed nothing.

'Ah--h!' The sergeant gave a sigh of relief as he dropped his pistol
hand. 'That's better.'

'Now,' said Ryder coldly, 'will you tell me if this is a new parlour
game, or are these actual troopers who are a little more idiotic than the
average?'

Ryder addressed Cargill. He was standing with his back to the piano; the
gaping guests formed a semicircle in front of him. Marcia, sitting on a
couch, motionless, with cheeks of deadly whiteness, uttered no sound, and
her eyes looked like patches of darkness in her icy face. Lucy, standing
at the piano, never took her eyes from Ryder. She could see what the
others could not see--the long, thin hands of the prisoner slowly but
easily working themselves out of the grip of the handcuffs.

'Call it a parlour game if you like, Mr. Solo, but I'm the winner, and
I'll trouble you to come with me.'

'Wait a moment. Macdougal, this farce has gone far enough. As your guest,
I demand an explanation.'

Macdougal looked at Ryder in silence for a moment, and then said quietly:
'They're callin' the new man yonder at the five-mile Brummy the Nut;
maybe ye mind him.'

'I do not. I--'

He was interrupted by the report of a revolver out in the darkness. The
trooper at the French window remained upright for a moment, then fell to
his knees, and then forward upon the carpet. For two or three seconds all
eyes but Lucy's and Ryder's were fixed upon the window, and there was
apprehension in every face. Lucy's eyes were upon Ryder's hands; she saw
the handcuff fall from one, saw him swing with a sudden, swift movement
of the right arm, and the heavy manacle struck the trooper at his side on
the temple, and the man fell without a groan. Then Ryder made a dash for
the French window, and was gone before a hand could be raised to stay
him. Lucy, who had had some understanding of his plan before he acted
upon it, followed him swiftly, closing the windows after him; and she
stood there, confronting the people, pale, but with determination in her
face and the flash of courage in her eyes. The trooper from the other
side dashed across the room, faltered for a moment, perceiving that time
would be lost in a struggle with the girl, and then turned and rushed
back through the door. The suddenness of all this had robbed the majority
of the