Page:Arthur Stringer--The House of Intrigue.djvu/257

Rh stronger one. I wanted to get away from that house, and get away from it for good.

So I crept over to the door, took the key from the lock, and stepped outside. There was no one in sight.

I may have been excited, at that prospect of escape, but I was not too excited to remember that it would be better not to be recognized as I left that house. So I slipped back into the room, found Copperhead Kate's heavy veil, knotted it about my hat and fastened it there by a couple of hair-pins.

Then I crept out through the door again, relocked it and pocketed the key. I could hear my own heart beating as I moved slowly forward, step by step, toward the stair-head. I lifted my veil and stood there listening, to make sure that the coast was still clear, for on this occasion I preferred to have no interruptions, either earthly or unearthly.

As I stood there, straining my ears, a faint murmur of voices came to me. This sound seemed to come from behind a closed door, somewhere deeper in the house. It should have proved a disturbing sound to me. But instead of hurrying my steps, for some reason, it halted them. I crept about the stair-head and groped my way along the wall, listening from time to time as the sounds grew clearer.