hand he touched his knee for a moment, the only
expression of disappointment which he allowed himself.

"May I ask you to go and enquire?" continued Phil, now wholly mistress
of herself again. "I am wondering, too, what can have become of Mrs.
McMurdoch."

"I will find out," said Ormuz Khan.

He rose, his every movement possessing a sort of feline grace. He bowed
and walked out of the room. Phil Abingdon heard in the distance the
motor restarted and the car being driven away from Hillside. She stood
up restlessly.

Beneath the calm of the Persian's manner she had detected the presence
of dangerous fires. The silence of the house oppressed her. She was not
actually frightened yet, but intuitively she knew that all was not well.
Then came a new sound arousing active fear at last.

Someone was rapping upon one of the long, masked windows! Phil Abingdon
started back with a smothered exclamation.

"Quick!" came a high, cool voice, "open this window. You are in danger."

The voice was odd, peculiar, but of one thing she was certain. It was
not the voice of an Oriental. Furthermore, it held a note of command,
and something, too, which inspired trust.

She looked quickly about her to make sure that she was alone. And then,
running swiftly to the window from which the sound had come, she moved a
heavy gilded fastening which closed it, and drew open the heavy leaves.

A narrow terrace was revealed with a shrubbery beyond; and standing
on the terrace was a tall, thin man wearing a light coat over evening
dress. He looked pale, gaunt, and unshaven, and although the regard of
his light eyes was almost dreamy, there was something very tense in his
pose.

"I am Nicol Brinn," said the stranger. "I knew your father. You have
walked into a trap. I am here to get you out of it. Can you drive?"

"Do you mean an automobile?" asked Phil, breathlessly.

"A Rolls Royce."

"Yes."

"Come right out."

"My furs! my hat!"

"Something bigger is at stake."

It was all wildly bizarre, almost unbelievable. Phil Abingdon had
experienced in her own person the insidious power of Ormuz Khan. She
now found herself under the spell of a personality at least as forceful,
although in a totally different way. She found herself running through a
winding path amid bushes, piloted by this strange, unshaven man, to whom
on sight she had given her trust unquestioningly!

"When we reach the car," he said over his shoulder, "ask no
questions--h