icion. The
very purpose he had in view might be frustrated. He decided that where
they were the keys would serve him as well as in his pocket, and turned
his attention to the third door. This was not locked, and, from its
position, Ford guessed it must be an entrance to a servants' stairway.

Confident of this, he opened it, and found a dark, narrow landing, a
flight of steps mounting from the kitchen below, and, to his delight an
iron ladder leading to a trap-door. He could hardly forego a cheer. If
the trap-door were not locked, he had found a third line of retreat, a
means of escape by way of the roof, far superior to any he might attempt
by the main staircase and the street-door.

Ford stepped into the landing, closing the door behind him and though
this left him in complete darkness, he climbed the ladder, and with
eager fingers felt for the fastenings of the trap. He had feared to
find a padlock, but, to his infinite relief, his fingers closed upon
two bolts. Noiselessly, and smoothly, they drew back from their sockets.
Under the pressure of his hand the trap door lifted, and through the
opening swept a breath of chill night air.

Ford hooked one leg over a round of the ladder and, with hands frees
moved the trap to one side. An instant later he had scrambled to the
roof, and, after carefully replacing the trap, rose and looked about
him. To his satisfaction, he found that the roof upon which he stood ran
level with the roofs adjoining its to as far as Devonshire Street,
where they encountered the wall of an apartment house. This was of
seven stories. On the fifth story a row of windows, brilliantly lighted,
opened upon the roofs over which he planned to make his retreat. Ford
chuckled with nervous excitement.

"Before long," he assured himself, "I will be visiting the man who owns
that flat. He will think I am a burglar. He will send for the police.
There is no one in the world I shall be so glad to see!"

Ford considered that running over roofs, even when their pitfalls were
not concealed by a yellow fog, was an awkward exercise, and decided that
before he made his dash for freedom, the part of a careful jockey would
be to take a preliminary canter over the course. Accordingly, among
party walls of brick, rain-pipes, chimney-pipes, and telephone wires,
he felt his way to the wall of the apartment house; and then, with a
clearer idea of the obstacles to be avoided, raced back to the point
whence he had start