Then, too, where was Ella, and where was her mother?
There was something inexpressibly sinister in the utter quietness
of the house, a quietness not at all of peace and rest but of a
brooding, angry threat.
Still he could hear nothing, and he left the room, very quickly and
noiselessly, and he made sure there was no one anywhere in any of
these rooms on the ground floor.
He locked the front door and the back to make sure no one should
enter or leave too easily, and returned on tiptoe, moving to and
fro like a shadow cast by a changing light, so swift and noiseless
were his movements.
For a little he remained crouching against the side of the stairway,
listening for any sound that might float down to him from above.
But none came--and on a sudden, in one movement, as it were, he
ran up the stairs and crouched down on the topmost one so that any
bullet aimed at him as he appeared might perhaps fly overhead.
But none was fired; there was still no sound at all, no sign that
the house held any living creature beside himself. He began to
think that Deede Dawson must have sent the two women away and now
have gone himself.
But there was the pen downstairs with ink still wet upon the nib
to prove that he had been here recently, and again very suddenly
Rupert leaped to his feet and ran noiselessly down the corridor
and entered quickly into Ella's room.
Pages:
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226