es they seemed to be tiny points of extreme
brilliancy--little electric sparks in the black obscurity--then they
would widen and widen until all that corner of the room was filled with
their shifting and sinister light. And then suddenly they went out
altogether.

The beast had closed its eyes. I do not know whether there may be any
truth in the old idea of the dominance of the human gaze, or whether
the huge cat was simply drowsy, but the fact remains that, far from
showing any symptom of attacking me, it simply rested its sleek, black
head upon its huge forepaws and seemed to sleep. I stood, fearing to
move lest I should rouse it into malignant life once more. But at
least I was able to think clearly now that the baleful eyes were off
me. Here I was shut up for the night with the ferocious beast. My own
instincts, to say nothing of the words of the plausible villain who
laid this trap for me, warned me that the animal was as savage as its
master. How could I stave it off until morning? The door was
hopeless, and so were the narrow, barred windows. There was no shelter
anywhere in the bare, stone-flagged room. To cry for assistance was
absurd. I knew that this den was an outhouse, and that the corridor
which connected it with the house was at least a hundred feet long.
Besides, with the gale thundering outside, my cries were not likely to
be heard. I had only my own courage and my own wits to trust to.

And then, with a fresh wave of horror, my eyes fell upon the lantern.
The candle had burned low, and was already beginning to gutter. In ten
minutes it would be out. I had only ten minutes then in which to do
something, for I felt that if I were once left in the dark with that
fearful beast I should be incapable of action. The very thought of it
paralysed me. I cast my despairing eyes round this chamber of death,
and they rested upon one spot which seemed to promise I will not say
safety, but less immediate and imminent danger than the open floor.

I have said that the cage had a top as well as a front, and this top
was left standing when the front was wound through the slot in the
wall. It consisted of bars at a few inches' interval, with stout wire
netting between, and it rested upon a strong stanchion at each end. It
stood now as a great barred canopy over the crouching figure in the
corner. The space between this iron shelf and the roof may have been
from two or three feet. If I could only get