ero's threat, he determined at once to reconnoitre. In case of his
being discovered outside his room, he would explain his electric bell
was out of order, that when he rang no servant had answered, and that he
had sallied forth in search of one. To make this plausible, he unscrewed
the cap of the electric button in the wall, and with his knife cut off
enough of the wire to prevent a proper connection. He then replaced the
cap and, opening the door, stepped into the hall.

The upper part of the house was, sunk in silence, but rising from the
dining-room below, through the opening made by the stairs, came the
voices of Prothero and Pearsall. And mixed with their voices came also
the sharp hiss of water issuing from a siphon. The sound was reassuring.
Apparently, over their whiskey-and-soda the two men were still lingering
at the dinner-table. For the moment, then--so far, at least, as they
were concerned--the coast was clear.

Stepping cautiously, and keeping close to the wall, Ford ran lightly
up the stairs to the hall of the third floor. It was lit brightly by a
gas-jet, but no one was in sight, and the three doors opening upon it
were shut. At the rear of the hall was a window; the blind was raised,
and through the panes, dripping in the rain, Ford caught a glimpse of
the rigid iron rods of a fire-escape. His spirits leaped exultantly. If
necessary, by means of this scaling ladder, he could work entirely
from the outside. Greatly elated, he tiptoed past the closed doors and
mounted to the fourth floor. This also was lit by a gas-jet that showed
at one end of the hall a table on which were medicine-bottles and a tray
covered by a napkin; and at the other end, piled upon each other and
blocking the hall-window, were three steamer-trunks. Painted on each
were the initials, "D. D." Ford breathed an exclamation.

"Dosia Dale," he muttered, "I have found you!" He was again confronted
by three closed doors, one leading to a room that faced the street,
another opening upon a room in the rear of the house, and opposite,
across the hallway, still another door. He observed that the first two
doors were each fastened from the outside by bolts and a spring lock,
and that the key to each lock was in place. The fact moved him with
indecision. If he took possession of the keys, he could enter the rooms
at his pleasure. On the other hand, should their loss be discovered, an
alarm would be raised and he would inevitably come under susp