w his face. It was the Adventurer.

She stifled a little cry. Her brain was in turmoil. And now the back
door was opening. They--they might see her here! And--yes--it was
safer--safer to act on the sudden inspiration that had come to her. The
door of the room from which the Adventurer had emerged was almost
within reach; and he had not locked it as he had gone out--she had
subconsciously noted that fact. And she understood why he had not
now--that he had safeguarded himself against the loss of even the second
or two it would have taken him to unlock it when he ran back for cover
again from the Pug's room. Yes-that room! It was the safest thing she
could do. She could even get out that way, for it must be the room with
the low window, which she remembered gave on the back yard, and--She
darted silently forward, and, as the back door opened, slipped into the
room the Adventurer had just vacated.

It was pitch black. She must not make a sound; but, equally, she must
not lose a second. What was taking place in the Pug's room between
Pinkie Bonn and the Adventurer she did not know. But the Adventurer was
obviously on one of his marauding expeditions, and he might stay
there no more than a minute or two once he found out that he had been
forestalled. She must hurry--hurry!

She felt her way forward in what she believed to be the direction of
the window. She ran against the bed. But this afforded her something by
which to guide herself. She kept her touch upon it, her hand trailing
along its edge. And then, halfway down its length, what seemed to be a
piece of string caught in her extended, groping fingers. It seemed to
cling, but also to yield most curiously, as she tried to shake it off;
and then something, evidently from under the mattress, came away with a
little jerk, and remained, suspended, in her hand.

It didn't matter, did it? Nothing mattered except to reach the window.
Yes, here it was now! And the roller shade was drawn down; that was why
the room was so dark. She raised the shade quickly--and suddenly stood
there as though transfixed, her face paling, as in the faint light by
the window she gazed, fascinated, at the object that still dangled by a
cord from her hand.

And it seemed as if an inner darkness were suddenly riven as by a bolt
of lightning--a hundred things, once obscure and incomprehensible, were
clear now, terribly clear. She understood now how the Adventurer was
privy to all the inner workings o