Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/213

 by inch, along that pair of knotted window curtains swinging free in space.

Two small fears possessed her as she did so. One was that the dust from the curtains would compel her to sneeze. The other was that she might reach the curtain-end before her dangling feet came in contact with the floor of the room beneath her and that the sound of her fall might yet betray her. For she knew, once her shoulders were below the upper floor level, that there could be no going back.

Her fears, however, were quite groundless, and she had no inclination to go back. Her swaying toe touched a carpeted floor and with her next movement both feet were firmly planted. Then she took a great breath of relief and peered about through the unbroken darkness, with her ears straining for the slightest sound.

She stood there listening for several minutes. Then she stooped and pulled the slippers from her feet. These, together with her long white gloves, she bundled up in her wrap. Then she groped her way slowly and noiselessly across the floor until her outstretched fingers came in contact with a wall-surface. She continued to work her guarded way along this wall until she came to a door. Once