Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-18
CHAPTER XXXVI.
In the Dead Of NIGHT.

SO Iar L nave no evidence to prove that
you are anything more than a mere i'm
poster. You claim to be my mother, and
perhaps you are. But till tonight had
no mother. For eighteen years Lord Ra
venspur has been more than a father to
me. If you can give me any satisfactory
explanation Of this plot against my
safety
"Oh. 1 can" the countess cried. Two
years ago
BE SILENT" Silva cried furiously. Il
beg your pardon, madam, but / am for
getting myself. 1 will venture to remind
you that your train will not watt
THAT is quite sufficient" Vera said,
with dignity. II will return to my room
again, Perhaps the next time see you,
you will have more time for an explana
ton" a.
The girl turned and left the room She
walked slowly and sadly up the stairs
and locked herself in. 1t was not long
before she heard the click of the fasten-
Ing outside. She knew that she was
prisoner once more. 1t was out of the
question to try and realize the meaning
of all this extraordinary mystery. There
was a certain sense of comfort In the
knowledge that she was SAFE from per-
sonal violence. But, beyond this, there
was little to light up the dreary prospect
till the clock struck eleven. Then she
glanced UP at the ceiling and stared at
the trapdoor long and thoughtfully.
She could not hear a sound in the house.
Doubtless Silva had retired long ago. Per-
haps he was asleep by this time. AS to
the servants. they were probably not re-
turning till an early hour in the morning.
Vera calculated that the house was suff1-
GENTLY far from London to make return
after the theater impossible. She was
% .,telr HI +
tempting to escape she could only return
to her room again. She changed her dress
rapidly. In the pocket of her skirt she
placed a box of matches and a night
light, which she found on the dressing
table To get through the trap was a
matter Of a moment. With the aid of
match she found the top of the iron lad
der, and when she had let herself down
she came at length as she had expected.
to the top of the servants staircase. The
In darkness. Vera scarcely dared to
breathe till, at length. she found herself
in the hall. 1t was tense and nervous
work, and the girl was trembling from
head to foot. She hardly dared touch
the bolts. She drew them back d frac
ton at a time. Then she slid off the
chain; the links clicked together with
noise that sounded in the girls ears al
most like a pistol shot. She turned the
handle hurriedly. One moment more and
she WOulu De III Inc SdTQen.
The disappointment was swift and cruel.
The door was locked and the key was not
there. Evidently this was no way of
escape. After the first feeling of despair
Vera shot the bolts back and put up the
chain once more; 1t was no use trying
the back door, for that would probably
be locked and the key gone. The only
possible exit was by way Of one of the
windows on the ground floor. But here
again Vera was doomed to disappoint-
ment. for every door was fastened and
every key had vanished.
Vera blew out her night-light and crept
softly up the stairs again. She wondered
If 1t were possible to open one of the bed
room windows and leap to the ground.
Trembling in every limb she CROPPED her
which was open. Once more she ven
tured to strike a light. The room she was
in was furnished like study. Here was
a large table with paper and pens and
ink The walls were lined with books. A
strong current of air came in from some
where: then Vera realized that one Of
the windows was open. There was bal
cony beyond, and on to this she stepped.
trying to measure with her eye the dis
tance to the ground. But it was too dark
for that The risk was too great to take.
1t was like standing on the edge of
precipice. Vera drew back with a shud-
der. She really had not the courage for
such a desperate venture. 1t would be
was until her friends came to her assist
ance.
With this thought uppermost in her
mind Vera turned back to the room again.
A sudden gust of ar from the open win
dow extinguished the night-light. 1t was
just as WELL for almost at the same in
slant another door opened on the landing
and a shaft of brilliant light shot out.
In its rays Vera could see Silva and an
other man, who was stranger to her.
Is<vt, LITE
He was chatting gaily to his companion.
Now you know exactly what 1 want"
he said. You are to wait by the gate
till o'clock If necessary, and when those
people come along you are to give me the
signal If they don't come by 2 o'clock.
then we can conclude that something has
interfered with their plans and the thing
has been postponed.
"Oh, I'll do what you want" the other
man said hoarsely.
''I'll see that you do" Silva went on.
II suppose those fools thought they de-
ceived me this morning. 1t was just as
we'll that 1 followed them. Well. IL they
like to come here, they will be pretty
sure of a welcome. And now 1 will just
come and let you out and fasten the door
behind you. 1t will be fun to sit here
watching till they are overheard. and then
l shall have them in fine trap. l am
looking forward to 1t with the greatest
possible pleasure. Then you had better
give you the money l promised. All, my
good Stevens, this is the best weeks work
you ever did in your life. few more
such jobs and you will be able to retire
from your honorable profession
The man addressed as Stevens smiled
sourly. Vera made note of the name;
she also made a note OF the mans fea-
lures. Then, as the two Of them went
down into the hall, she slipped back to
her own room again by means of the
iron ladder. Her breath was coming
thick and fast. but her courage had re-
turned. and she felt braced up and ready
to meet any emergency.
1t was quite clear to her what was hap
pening. AS far as she herself was con-
cerned she was practically a prisoner.
She could not get away even If she wished
to. And now she had no desire to leave.
Her instincts had been quite correct. Be
yond all question the men on the lawn in
the earlier part Of the day had been her
own friends. The dog had guided them
here and even at that moment they were
probably on their way to effect rescue.
But they had not been quite clever
enough for Silva. He had been too sus-
picious to let an inciden like that pass.
He had appeared to bow to the inevitable,
but all the same, he had followed his I'M
welcome visitors and probably discovered
their secret. And the worst Of 1t was
Silva was now quite prepared for the in
truders. It was impossible. too, for Vera
to warn her friends. She racked her
brains for some way of giving them
signal. There was only one desperate
step to take and she decided to risk it.
Back once more she went until she came