first time, that he had put away his revolver.

"It is not absurd; it is essential. Permit me. In my native country
we have a secret order which I need not name. If the secrets of this
order came to be known by an individual not already a member, one of
two things happened. He either became a member of the order, or he
became a man who--who could impart no information!"

"And that means----?"

"It means, practically, that from this hour you are, either willing or
unwilling, a partner in my activities, as you now are in my possession
of certain papers. Pardon me. The penalty may seem heavy, but the
case, you will understand, is exceptional. Also, the nature of your
visit, and the thoroughness of your preparations"--he swept the
dismantled room with his grim but mocking glance--"have already
convinced me that the partnership will not be an impossible one."

"But I repeat, this is theatrical, and absurd. You cannot possibly
keep me a--a prisoner here, forever!"

He looked at her, and suddenly she shrank back from his glance, white
to the lips.

"You will not be a prisoner!"

"I am quite aware of that!"

"You will not be a prisoner, for then you would not be a partner. The
coalition between us must be as silent as it is essential. But first,
permit me!"

She still shrank back from his touch, consumed with a new and
unlooked-for fear of him. And all the while she was telling herself
that she must remain calm, and make no mistake.

The remembrance came to her, as she stood there, of how she had once
thought it possible to approach him in a more indirect and adroit
fashion, as the wayward and life-loving Lady Boxspur. She shuddered a
little, as she recalled that foolish mistake, and pictured the perils
into which it might have led her. She could detect more clearly now
the odor of brandy on his quickening breath. His face, death-like in
its pallor, flashed before and above her like a semaphoric sign of
imminent danger. Action of some sort, however obvious, was necessary.

"I want a drink," she gasped, with a movement toward the cabinet.

He turned and caught up the heavy glass brandy-decanter, emitting a
nervous and irresponsible laugh.

In one hand he held the decanter, in the other the half-filled tumbler.
That, at least, implied an appreciable space of time before those hands
could be freed. In that, she felt, lay her hope.

Quicker than thought she darted to the door over which still swung