e shore last night."

"Sh-h-h!" came another voice, and the door was shut smartly.

Betty's eyes grew wide with horror as she lay staring at the closed
door, and a cold numbness seemed to envelop her, clutching at her
throat, her heart and threatening to overwhelm her.

Bessemer not here! What could it mean? Her mind seemed unable to grasp
and analyze the nameless fear that awaited her outside that door. In a
moment more they would all swarm in and surround her, and begin to
clamor for her to go back into that awful church--and _she could
not_--EVER! She would far rather die!

She sprang to her feet again and glided noiselessly to the only
remaining uninvestigated door in the room. If this was another closet
she would shut herself inside and stay till she died. She had read tales
of people dying in a small space from lack of air. At least, if she did
not die she could stay here till she had time to think. There was a key
in the lock. Her fingers closed around it and drew it stealthily from
the keyhole, as she slid through the door, drawing her rich draperies
ruthlessly after. Her fingers were trembling so that she scarcely could
fit the key in the lock again and turn it, and every click of the metal,
every creak of the door, sounded like a gong in her ears. Her heart was
fluttering wildly and the blood seemed to be pouring in torrents behind
her ear-drums. She could not be sure whether there were noises in the
room she had just left or not. She put her hand over her heart, turned
with a sickening dread to look about her prison, and behold, it was not
a closet at all, but a dark landing to a narrow flight of stone steps
that wound down out of sight into the shadows. With a shudder she
gathered her white impediment about her and crept down the murky way,
frightened, yet glad to creep within the friendly darkness.

There were unmistakable sounds of footsteps overhead now, and sharp
exclamations. A hand tried the door above and rattled it violently. For
an instant her heart beat frightfully in her throat at the thought that
perhaps after all she had not succeeded in quite locking it, but the
door held, and she flew on blindly down the stairs, caring little where
they led only so that she might hide quickly before they found the
janitor and pried that door open.

The stairs ended in a little hall and a glass door. She fumbled wildly
with the knob. It was locked, but there was a key! It was a large one
and stuck, and ga