highly nervous state. The brains of some are unbalanced. With
my associate and myself they are familiar, but the sight of a stranger
roaming through the halls might upset them. They might attack you, might
do you bodily injury. If you wish for anything, ring the electric bell
beside your bed and an attendant will come. But you yourself must not
leave the room."

He closed the door, and Ford, seating himself in front of the coal fire,
hastily considered his position. He could not persuade himself that,
strategically, it was a satisfactory one. The girl he sought was on the
top or fourth floor, he on the second. To reach her he would have to
pass through Well-lighted halls, up two flights Of stairs and try
to enter a door that would undoubtedly be locked. On the other hand,
instead of wandering about in the rain outside the house, he was now
established on the inside, and as an inmate. Had there been time for a
siege, he would have been confident of success. But there was no time.
The written call for help had been urgent. Also, the scream he had
heard, while the manner of the two men had shown that to them it was a
commonplace, was to him a spur to instant action. In haste he knew there
was the risk of failure, but he must take that risk.

He wished first to assure himself that Cuthbert was within call, and to
that end put out the lights and drew aside the curtains that covered the
window. Outside, the fog was rolling between the house-fronts, both rain
and snow were falling heavily, and a solitary gas-lamp showed only a
deserted and dripping street. Cautiously Ford lit a match and for an
instant let the flame flare. He was almost at once rewarded by the sight
of an answering flame that flickered from a dark doorway. Ford closed
the window, satisfied that his line of communication with the outside
world was still intact. The faithful Cuthbert was on guard.

Ford rapidly reviewed each possible course of action. These were
several, but to lead any one of them to success, he saw that he must
possess a better acquaintance with the interior of the house. Especially
was it important that he should obtain a line of escape other than the
one down the stairs to the front door. The knowledge that in the rear of
the house there was a means of retreat by a servants' stairway, or over
the roof of an adjoining building, or by a friendly fire-escape, would
at least, lend him confidence in his adventure. Accordingly, in spite of
Proth