e chamber in search of what he required. For some time
he was unsuccessful, and he had reluctantly arrived at the conclusion
that the search must end in failure, when his eyes happened to fall upon
the very thing he needed.

Standing at the far end of the apartment, in that part of it enclosed by
the circular portion of wall, was a sinister-looking machine, and to the
gearing of one of its handles was attached a short piece of iron rod
which he thought he might disengage without much difficulty. Forthwith
he applied himself to the task, with such success that, half an hour
later, he found himself in possession of what he required. True, it was
somewhat stouter than it should have been for his purpose, but this was
one of those occasions upon which he found his exceptional strength very
useful, and after a few experiments he succeeded in bending it to the
shape he wanted.

He was experimenting with the bent rod in the lock when, fortunately,
his quick ear caught the sound of footsteps hurrying down the
stone-flagged corridor toward his cell.

Snatching the wire out of the lock, he hastily dropped it into the
nearest available place of concealment, and sauntered toward the
opposite side of the chamber. There would be no time, he knew, to take
down and redistribute the pile of articles he had used to enable him to
look out of the window, so he was compelled to leave them as they were,
trusting that, in the dim light, the visitor, whoever he might be, would
not particularly notice the arrangement. A moment later there was a
sound of keys rattling outside, the lock clicked loudly, and the door
opened and closed behind a man carrying a lamp, which he set down on the
floor just inside the room, after carefully locking the door again.

The thought instantly flashed through Frobisher's mind that perhaps
after all there would be no need for him to go on with the manufacture
of his skeleton key; for was not the actual key of the door in the room
at that very moment? True, it was in the possession of another man; but
unless he happened to possess fire-arms, it would be queer indeed if a
desperate prisoner could not overpower him, tie him up somehow, and
secure the key to obtain his liberty. Frobisher's eyes glistened at the
thought, and his muscles braced themselves for a spring. But at the
critical moment the idea occurred to him that the other was in his power
anyhow, and that he could secure the key later on, just as