y; his right hand was on the open door of the safe, the
left holding a small parcel wrapped in white paper, and, separate, an
envelope.

Amaryllis knew what he held, and the courage rose in her to hold back
the scream which was coming, until she should have tight hold of the
thief--the fingers of both hands, she hoped, fast in his collar.

She was close behind him, and he was locking the safe, when suddenly he
felt or heard her presence and swung round.

It was the face of Melchard; astonishment and disgust for a fatal moment
took away her breath. Before she could scream, his hands were on her
mouth and naked neck, pushing her roughly backward until she was against
the right-hand curtain and the corner of the wall. From behind the
curtain, it seemed, two small, soft hands stole over her shoulders and
gripped her neck, squeezing it savagely.

Melchard took his left hand from her mouth, and as she tried in vain to
scream in spite of the double grip on her throat, he crammed a handful
of the linen curtain between her tongue and palate with his long
fingers.

"Take your cat's claws off her neck," she heard him mutter. "I'll keep
her quiet."

And that was all before she fainted.

* * * * *

Her next sensation was of half-sitting, half-lying in an uneasy
arm-chair--a chair which jolted, slid and swung, and then again glided
smoothly. There was something hairy over her face, and she drew her
breath with difficulty.

She was in a car--the weight on her face was the hairy side of a rug.
Movement seemed impossible, and the fur now and then hurt her eyes. With
an effort she managed to close the lids, and as tears slowly refreshed
the eye-balls, she was so much relieved that she might have fallen
asleep, but for Melchard's detested voice sounding above her.

"I think that's Escrick we've just run through. York in ten minutes
about. When I say 'now,' down you go under the rug again. I'm the only
passenger through the town."

"Why not go round York?" asked another voice, which Amaryllis had heard
before; but where, she could not remember.

"We mustn't waste any time," answered Melchard. "Besides, if more people
see you in the streets of a town, fewer look at you than in the country.
You'll have to duck in a minute, and I shall pile the bags and things on
top."

"They hurt me last time," said the softer voice.

"A thousand apologies," replied Melchard carelessly. "But it's all in
the g