sleepy waiter lay upon a couch and dreamed of
his Fatherland. The lift had ceased to run. The last of the belated
sojourners had tramped his way up the carpeted stairs. On the fifth
floor, as on all the others, a complete and absolute silence reigned.
Suddenly a door was softly opened. Virginia, dressed in a loose gown,
and wearing felt slippers which sank noiselessly into the thick carpet,
came slowly out from her room. She looked all around and realized the
complete solitude of the place. Then she crossed the corridor swiftly,
and without a moment's hesitation fitted the key which she was carrying
in her hand into the lock of Norris Vine's room. The door opened
noiselessly. She closed it behind her and paused to listen. There was
not a sound in the place, and the door on the left, which led into the
sitting-room, was ajar. She stepped in, and, after another moment's
hesitation, closed the door softly behind her and gently raised the
blind. The sunlight came streaming in. There was no need for the
electric light. The sitting room, none too tidy, showed signs of its
owner's late return. There was a silk hat and a pair of white kid gloves
upon the table, and on the sideboard a half-empty glass of whiskey and
soda. Several cigarette ends were in the grate. An evening paper lay
upon the hearthrug. She knew from these things that a few yards away
Norris Vine lay sleeping.

Without hesitation, with swift and stealthy fingers, she commenced a
close and careful scrutiny of every inch of the room. In a quarter of
an hour she had satisfied herself. There was no hiding-place left which
could possibly have escaped her. The more dangerous part of her
enterprise was to come. Very softly she opened the door, leaving it ajar
as she had found it. She stood before the closed door of the bedroom.
Very slowly, and with the tips of her fingers, she turned the handle. It
opened without a sound. She had no garments on that rustled, and the
soles of her slippers were of thick felt. She stood inside the room
without having made the slightest sound. She held her breath for a
moment, and then summoning up her courage, she looked toward the bed.
The close-drawn curtains were unable to altogether exclude the early
morning sunlight which streamed in through the chinks of the curtains
and the uncovered part of the window.

Virginia stood as though she had been turned to stone. Every nerve in
her body seemed tense and quivering. The cry which rose f