d herself lying on a plain
stretcher bed. She sat up suddenly. Kara had gone and the door was
closed. The cellar was dry and clean and its walls were enamelled white.
Light was supplied by two electric lamps in the ceiling. There was a
table and a chair and a small washstand, and air was evidently supplied
through unseen ventilators. It was indeed a prison and no less, and in
her first moments of panic she found herself wondering whether Kara had
used this underground dungeon of his before for a similar purpose.

She examined the room carefully. At the farthermost end was another
door and this she pushed gently at first and then vigorously without
producing the slightest impression. She still had her bag, a small
affair of black moire, which hung from her belt, in which was nothing
more formidable than a penknife, a small bottle of smelling salts and
a pair of scissors. The latter she had used for cutting out those
paragraphs from the daily newspapers which referred to Kara's movements.

They would make a formidable weapon, and wrapping her handkerchief round
the handle to give it a better grip she placed it on the table within
reach. She was dimly conscious all the time that she had heard something
about this wine cellar--something which, if she could recollect it,
would be of service to her.

Then in a flash she remembered that there was a lower cellar, which
according to Mrs. Beale was never used and was bricked up. It was
approached from the outside, down a circular flight of stairs. There
might be a way out from that direction and would there not be some
connection between the upper cellar and the lower!

She set to work to make a closer examination of the apartment.

The floor was of concrete, covered with a light rush matting. This she
carefully rolled up, starting at the door. One half of the floor was
uncovered without revealing the existence of any trap. She attempted to
pull the table into the centre of the room, better to roll the matting,
but found it fixed to the wall, and going down on her knees, she
discovered that it had been fixed after the matting had been laid.

Obviously there was no need for the fixture and, she tapped the floor
with her little knuckle. Her heart started racing. The sound her
knocking gave forth was a hollow one. She sprang up, took her bag from
the table, opened the little penknife and cut carefully through the thin
rushes. She might have to replace the matting and it was nec