tle while my senses, which by this time had become
super-acute, were conscious of various noises within the house itself:
footsteps overhead, a confused murmur of voices, and anon the
unmistakable sound of a female voice raised as if in entreaty or in
complaint.

Somehow a vague feeling of alarm possessed itself of my nervous
system. I began to realise my position--alone, a stranger in a house
as to whose situation I had not the remotest idea, and among a set of
men who, if my surmises were correct, were nothing less than a gang of
determined and dangerous criminals. The voices, especially the female
one, were now sounding more clear. I tiptoed to the door, and very
gently opened it. There was indeed no mistaking the tone of desperate
pleading which came from some room above and through & woman's lips. I
even caught the words: "Oh, don't! Oh, don't! Not again!" repeated at
intervals with pitiable insistence.

Mastering my not unnatural anxiety, I opened the door a little farther
and slipped out into the passage, all my instincts of chivalry towards
beauty in distress aroused by those piteous cries. Forgetful of every
possible danger and of all prudence, I had already darted down the
corridor, determined to do my duty as a gentleman as soon as I had
ascertained whence had come those cries of anguish, when I heard the
frou-frou of skirts and a rapid patter of small feet down the stairs.
The next moment a radiant vision, all white muslin, fair curls and the
scent of violets, descended on me from above, a soft hand closed over
mine and drew me, unresisting, back into the room from whence I had
just come.

Bewildered, I gazed on the winsome apparition before me, and beheld a
young girl, slender as a lily, dressed in a soft, clinging gown which
made her appear more slender still, her fair hair arranged in a tangle
of unruly curls round the dainty oval of her face.

She was exquisite, Sir! And the slenderness of her! You cannot imagine
it! She looked like a young sapling bending to the gale. But what cut
me to the heart was the look of terror and of misery in her face. She
clasped her hands together and the tears gathered in her eyes.

"Go, Sir, go at once!" she murmured under her breath, speaking very
rapidly. "Do not waste a minute, I beg of you! As you value your life,
go before it is too late!"

"But, Mademoiselle," I stammered; for indeed her words and appearance
had roused all my worst fears, but also all my insti