The Irish standard., 1908-11-07

undertake to search the fiat. And II
she were found. 8. Oh, she must |
spare him that! She had given him
cause for suffering enough. She must
get away, and that instantly, before
q. From distance, tomorrow
morning-to-night, evenly telegraph,
she could communicate with him.
At this juncture O'Hagan entered
with his parcel. The rustic of the
paper as he brushed against the door.
jamb was in itself hint to a mind
keyed to the highest pitch of excite.
ment and seeking way Of escape
from a position conceived to be peril
GUS. In trice the girl had turned
and sped, lightfooted, to the door open
ing on the private hall.
Here, halting for a brief reconnais-
sance, she determined that her plan
was feasible, If hazardous. She ran
the risk of encountering some one
ascending the stairs from the ground
floor; but if she were cautious and
quick she could turn back in time. On
the other hand. the men whom she
most feared were thoroughly occupied
with their differences, dead to all save
that which was happening within the
rooms four walls. A curtain hung
perhaps a third of the way across the
study door, temper1ng the light In the
hall: and the broad shoulders Of the
cabby obstructed the remainder Of the
opening.
1t was chance. She poised herself
on tiptoe, half undecided. and-the
rustling Of paper as O'Hagan opened
the parcel afforded her an opportunity
to escape. by drowning the noise of
her movements.
For two eternal seconds she was
edging stealthily down toward tho
outer door; then, in no time at all,
found herself on the landing and
confronted by fresh complication,
one unforeseen: how to leave the
house without being observed,
stopped, and perhaps detained until
too late? There would be men at the
door, beyond doubt; possibly police,
stationed there to arrest all persons
attempting to leave.
No time for weighing chances. The
choice of two alternatives lay before
her: either to return to the alcove
or to seek safety in the darkness of
the upper fioors-untenanted, as she
had been at pains to determine. The
latter seemed by far the better, the
less dangerous, course to pursue. And
at once she took 1t.
There was no light on the first
floor landing-it having presumably
been extinguished by the janitor early
in the evening. Only a feeble twilight
obtained there, in part reflected glow
from the entranceshall, partly thin and
diffused rays escaping from Maitland's
study. So it was that the first few
steps upward took the girl into dark
ness so close and unrelieved as to
seem almost palpable.
At the turn of the staircase she
paused, holding the rail and resting
for an instant, the while she listened.
ere ascending at a more sedate pace
to a haven of safety more complete n
that it would be more remote from
the battle-ground below.
And, resting SO, was suddenly chilled
through and through with fear, sheer
childish dread of the intangible and
unknown terrors that lurked in the
blackness above her. 1t was as if,
rendered supersensitive by strain and
excitement, the quivering filaments Of
her subconsciousness, like spiritual
tentacles feeling ahead of her, had
encountered and recoiled from shape
of evil, specter of horror obscene and
malign, crouching, ready to spring,
there, in the shadow of night.
And her breath was smothered in
her throat and her heart smote so
madly against the frail walls Of it's
cage that they seemed like to burst,
while she stood transfixed, frozen in
inaction, limbs stiffening, roots of her
hair stirring, fingers gripping the ban
lister rail until they panied her; and
with eyes that stared wide into the
black heart of nothingness, until the
night seemed pricked with evanescent
periods of dim fire, peopled with mon
strous and terrible shadows closing
about her.
Yet-it was absurd! She must not
yield to such puerile superstitions.
There was nothing there.
There was something there .
something that like an incarnation OF
hatred was stalking her. e..
If only she dared scream! II only
she dared turn and fly, back to the
comfort of light and human com.
There arose tranpling Of feet in
the hallway; and she heard Maitland's
voice like far echo. as he bade the
police good night. And distant and
unreachable as he seemed, the sound
of his words brought her strength and
some reinsurance, and she grew
slightly more composed. Yet, the in.
stant that he had turned away to talk
to the cabman. her fright Of that un-
speakable and incorporeal menace
flooded her consciousness like a great
wave, sweeping her-metaphoricall