, and
having the long white tail fluttering a yard or so behind me, I returned
to where the taxi waited.

"Open the door!" I said to the man--who greeted me with such a stare of
amazement that I laughed outright, though my mirth was but hollow.

He jumped into the road and did as I directed. Making sure that both
windows were closed, I thrust the peacock into the cab and shut the door
upon it.

"For God's sake, sir!" began the driver--

"It has probably escaped from some collector's place on the riverside,"
I explained, "but one never knows. See that it does not escape again,
and if at the end of an hour, as arranged, you do not hear from me, take
it back with you to the River Police Station."

"Right you are, sir," said the man, remounting his seat. "It's the first
time I ever saw a peacock in Limehouse!"

It was the first time I had seen one, and the incident struck me as
being more than odd; it gave me an idea, and a new, faint hope. I
returned to the head of the steps, at the foot of which I had met with
this singular experience, and gazed up at the dark building beneath
which they led. Three windows were visible, but they were broken and
neglected. One, immediately above the arch, had been pasted up with
brown paper, and this was now peeling off in the rain, a little stream
of which trickled down from the detached corner to drop, drearily, upon
the stone stairs beneath.

Where were the detectives? I could only assume that they had directed
their attention elsewhere, for had the place not been utterly deserted,
surely I had been challenged.

In pursuit of my new idea, I again descended the steps. The persuasion
(shortly to be verified) that I was close upon the secret hold of the
Chinaman, grew stronger, unaccountably. I had descended some eight
steps, and was at the darkest part of the archway or tunnel, when
confirmation of my theories came to me.

A noose settled accurately upon my shoulders, was snatched tightly about
my throat, and with a feeling of insupportable agony at the base of
my skull, and a sudden supreme knowledge that I was being
strangled--hanged--I lost consciousness!

How long I remained unconscious, I was unable to determine at the time,
but I learned later, that it was for no more than half an hour; at any
rate, recovery was slow.

The first sensation to return to me was a sort of repetition of
the asphyxia. The blood seemed to be forcing itself into my eyes--I
choked--I felt that