nstantly
Israel Kafka's energy returned. He rose quickly and hid himself in the
shrubbery, in a position from which he could observe the door. He had
seen Unorna enter before and had of course heard her cry before the
Wanderer had carried her away, and he had believed that she had wished
to face him, either with the intention of throwing herself upon his
mercy or in the hope of dominating him with her eyes as she had so often
done before. Of course, he had no means of knowing that she had already
left the house. He imagined that the Wanderer had gone and that Unorna,
being freed from his restraint, was about to enter the place again. The
door opened and the three men came in. Kafka's first idea, on seeing
himself disappointed, was that they had come to take him into custody,
and his first impulse was to elude them.

The Wanderer entered first, tall, stately, indifferent, the quick glance
of his deep eyes alone betraying that he was looking for some one. Next
came Keyork Arabian, muffled still in his furs, turning his head sharply
from side to side in the midst of the sable collar that half buried
it, and evidently nervous. Last of all the Individual, who had divested
himself of his outer coat and whose powerful proportions did not escape
Israel Kafka's observation. It was clear that if there were a struggle
it could have but one issue. Kafka would be overpowered. His knowledge
of the disposition of the plants and trees offered him a hope of escape.
The three men had entered the conservatory, and if he could reach the
door before they noticed him, he could lock it upon them, as it had
been locked upon himself. He could hear their footsteps on the marble
pavement very near him, and he caught glimpses of their moving figures
through the thick leaves.

With cat-like tread he glided along in the shadows of the foliage until
he could see the door. From the entrance an open way was left in a
straight line towards the middle of the hall, down which his pursuers
were still slowly walking. He must cross an open space in the line of
their vision in order to get out, and he calculated the distance to be
traversed, while listening to their movements, until he felt sure that
they were so far from the door as not to be able to reach him. Then he
made his attempt, darting across the smooth pavement with his knife in
his hand. There was no one in the way.

Then came a violent shock and he was held as in a vice, so tightly that
he cou