in and unpinned the curtains. Her
fingers shook uncontrollably; never in her life had she known such a
devastating weakness--at a time, too, when she needed far more than her
normal strength! Towards the end of her task it was as much as she
could do to keep from sliding off the chair into a heap on the floor.
When the curtains lay in a dusty pile she was forced to rest a moment
on top of them before attempting to continue. Her condition frightened
her. At this rate she would not get far.

Wasn't there a brandy-bottle somewhere? Surely she had heard the
doctor give Holliday something to drink. Rising cautiously, she looked
about and discovered it on the long table, uncorked it, drank from the
bottle. Only two fiery mouthfuls, however. She dared not take more in
her present state of weakness and emptiness. The drink warmed her
slightly, gave her back just enough strength to go on. Her project
began to look less hopeless.

She found a knife and slit the tough fabric into strips, five lengths
each, then tied the ends together, tightening the knots as well as she
could. She had little idea of how far the improvised rope would reach,
but it seemed fairly long when it was done. She began to think it
would mean everything to get outside the house, whether she was injured
or not. She had at least the chance of attracting some passer-by's
attention before Holliday could discover she was gone and drag her back
to her prison. Gathering up her load of rope she listened again. No
sound whatever save the drip-drip of the tap in the corner.
Laboriously she climbed to the top of the table, pulled the nearest
chair up after her, planted it firmly beside her. Then she examined
the skylight once more, deciding that if it were open she could manage
to get her body through the central section, provided she had the
strength to hoist herself up that high.

With infinite caution she undid the hasp and pushed open the casement,
terrified lest the rusty, scrunching sound should penetrate to the
lower floors. She shot out the iron rod to its full extent and
fastened it, then started to search for something to which she could
secure the end of her rope. There was a wooden shelf against the wall
supported by iron brackets. Perhaps one of these brackets would serve,
though she was afraid that her weight pulling suddenly upon it would
tear out the screws from the plaster. There was nothing else close
enough; she must trust to i