s likely to inflict them if she should think that
necessary; but nothing seemed more unlikely than that she would keep me
for the present without food and water. It would be bad strategy, to say
the least of it. She had admitted that she did not want to offend King.

The more I considered that, the more worth while it seemed to bet on it;
and as I had nothing to bet with except will power and personal
convenience, I plunged with both and determined to stay awake as long as
human endurance could hold out.

There was only one way that food could possibly be brought into the
room, and that was through the massive teak-wood door. It was in the
middle of the wall, and opened inward; there were no bolts on the
inside. Anybody opening it cautiously would be able to see instantly all
down the length of half that wall, and possibly two thirds of the room
as well.

It would have been hardly practical to stand against the door and hit at
the first head that showed, for then if the door should open suddenly,
it would strike me and give the alarm. There was nothing else for it but
to stand well back against the wall on the side of the door on which the
hinges were; and as that would make the range too long for quick action
I had to invent some other means of dealing with the owner of the first
head than jumping in and punching it.

There was nothing whatever to contrive a trap with but the cotton rope
and the safety-pin, but the safety-pin like Mohammed's Allah, "made all
things possible." I stuck that safety-pin in the woodwork and hung the
noose in such position that the least jerk would bring it down over an
intruding head--practised the stunt for ten or fifteen minutes, and then
got well back against the wall with the end of the line in hand, and
waited.

I have read Izaak Walton, and continue unconvinced. I still class
fishing and golf together with tiddledywinks, and eschew all three as
thoughtfully as I avoid bazaars and "crushes" given by the ladies of
both sexes. The rest of that performance was too much like fishing with
a worm to suit my temperament, and although I caught more in the end
than I ever took with rod and line, the next half-hour was boredom pure
and simple, multiplied to the point of torture by intense yearning for
sleep.

But patience sometimes is rewarded. I very nearly was asleep when the
sound of a bolt being drawn on the far side of the door brought every
sense to the alert with that stinging feel