The diamond drill., 1921-06-11

glance out into a narrow dark ball
way. uncarpeted. could dlmly
discern the top OF q flight Of stairs
leading down 10 the story below. !
slipped out. and closed the door softly
behind me. being plunged Instantly into
funereal blackne4s.
groped a way forward toward the
stairs, guided by hand against the
wall. until the touch OF the upper rail
assured me OF my position A narrow
strip OF carpeung-rag I took IL to
be from the feeling--extenhed down
the center OF the stairs, sufficient 10
muftle any footsteps. and i paused
a moment listening for the slightest
noise amid the darkness beneath All
remained still and mysterious; so that
I drew forth my shoes from coat
pocket and slipped them ON.
Twice the boards creaked omiDously
under my tread. sounding terrific In
that silence. and causing ma 70 hang
In suspense over the banister rail-.
holding my breath In fnr of discovery.
At last / attained the wider space at
the bottom. and sought biindly TO ex-
plore my surroundings. But for the
carpet underfoot, and a small sofa
encountered In a recess. would have
believed myself In a deserted house.
/ knew was ON the third floor. yet
there was no curve In the banisters.
showing way 10 the next flight OF
stairs, nor could locate them by any
effort. AS the result of blindly cropping
about I lost all sense Of direction and
must have wandered into a side room
through an undraped recess. for /
suddenly brought up against a tnble.
Uttered with papers and books.
Startled by this encounter into a
realization that was lost In o strange
house at an unholy hour OF the MORN
Ing. and that the slightest misstep In
that darkness might result In an alarm
TO awaken every sleeper. for a few
minutes l did not venture 10 move In
any direction. Yet manifestly / could
not remain there indefinitely, and 80,
blindly choosing a course, set forth.
feeling way cautiously forward until
/ first ran into chair, and then struck
one hand against side wall. fol-
lowed this latter as best / could,
inspired by the thought that II l con-
tinued this course long enough / must
attain the opening through which /
had entered the room. On the way
my hands felt the outlines of a closed
door, and. IN aimleSsly grQping about,
encountered a key In the lock. IL
was so inserted as to be extracted
at the touch OF my fingers and instant
ly a tiny ray Of light shot forth
through the vacated hole. II was such
a relief In the heart OF that darkness
as 10 cause me TO quickly bend down
and enheaver 90 view the scene within.
II was evidently chamber OF some
size, and well furnished. rather dlmly
Illuminated by single shaded electric
globe. q handsome green rug on the
floor. and numerous pictures hung
about the wills. could perceive the
outlines OF bed at one side, barely
within the range OF the vision, and
opposite this an ornate dresser, with
three mirrors. But what my eyes
rested upon with greater interest was
a luxurious leather couch beside the
further wall on which woman rested,
with some sort OF covering drnped
about her. She lay with face toward
the wall. mouonleSs. and TO oil appear
ances sound asleep.
TO arouse her was the last thing
desired. and / would have slipped the
key back into the lock. and stolen
silently along in the darkness. Ind she
not suddenly stirred, flinging out one
hand as though In fear of some dream,
and turned partially, so that ber face
became clearly visible The sleeper