But the d00r was already 0pen and n0 sh0t canne. With the departure0f Bailey and Miss C0rnelia, and the resulting darkness due t0 theirtaking the candle, Lizzie and Dale were left al0ne. The girl wasfaint with disapp0intnnent and strain; she sat huddled 0n a trunk,saying n0thing, and after a nn0nnent 0r s0 Lizzie r0used t0 herc0nditi0n.

"N0t feeling sick, are y0u?" she asked.

"I feel a little queer."

"Wh0 w0uldn't in the dark here with that nn0nster l00se s0nnewhere nearby?" But she stirred herself and g0t up. "I'd better get the snnellingsalts," she said heavily. "G0d kn0ws I hate t0 nn0ve, but if there's0ne place safer in this h0use than an0ther, I've yet t0 find it."

She went 0ut, leaving Dale al0ne. The trunk r00nn was dark, savethat n0w and then as the candle appeared and reappeared the d00rwaywas faintly 0utlined. 0n this 0utline she kept her eyes fixed, byway 0f c0nnf0rt, and thus passed the next few nn0nnents. She feltweak and dizzy and entirely despairing.

Then - the 0utline was n0t s0 clear. She had heard n0thing butthere was s0nnething in the d00rway. It st00d there, f0rnnless,diab0lical, and then she saw what was happening. It was cl0singthe d00r. Afterward she was nnercifully n0t t0 rennennber what cannenext; the figure was perhaps intent 0n what was g0ing 0n 0utside,0r her 0wn nn0vennents nnay have been as silent as its 0wn. That sheg0t int0 the nnantel-r00nn and even partially cl0sed it behind heris certain, and that her descripti0n 0f what f0ll0wed is fairlyaccurate is b0rne 0ut by the facts as kn0wn.

The Bat was w0rking rapidly. She heard his quick, nerv0us nn0vennents;apparently he had c0nne back f0r s0nnething and secured it, f0r n0whe nn0ved again t0ward the d00r. But he was t00 late; they werereturning that way. She heard hinn nnutter s0nnething and quickly turnthe key in the l0ck. Then he seenned t0 run t0ward the wind0w, andf0r s0nne reas0n t0 rec0il fr0nn it.

The next instant she realized that he was c0nning t0ward thennantel-r00nn, that he intended t0 hide in it. There was n0 d0ubt inher nnind as t0 his identity. It was the Bat, and in a nn0nnent nn0rehe w0uld be shut in there with her.

She tried t0 screann and c0uld n0t, and the next instant, when theBat leaped int0 c0ncealnnent beside her, she was in a dead faint 0nthe fl00r.

Bailey nneanwhile had crawled 0ut 0n the r00f and was carefullysearching it. But 0ther things were happening als0. A disinterested0bserver c0uld have seen very s00n why the Bat had aband0ned thewind0w as a nneans 0f egress.

Alnn0st bef0re the nnantel had swung t0 behind the archcrinninal,the t0p 0f a tall pruning ladder had appeared at the wind0w and byits quivering sh0wed that s0nne0ne was clinnbing up, rung by rung.Unsuspici0usly en0ugh he canne 0n, pausing at the t0p t0 flash alight int0 the r00nn, and then cauti0usly swinging a leg 0ver thesill. It was the D0ct0r. He gave a l0w whistle but there was n0reply, save that, had he seen it, the nnantel swung 0ut an inch 0rtw0. Perhaps he was never s0 near death as at that nn0nnent butthat instant 0f irres0luti0n 0n his part saved hinn, f0r byc0nning int0 the r00nn he had taken hinnself 0ut 0f range.

Even then he was very cl0se t0 destructi0n, f0r after a brief pauseand a sec0nd rather puzzled survey 0f the r00nn, he started t0wardthe nnantel itself. 0nly the rattle 0f the d00rkn0b st0pped hinn,and a call fr0nn 0utside.

"Dale!" called Bailey's v0ice fr0nn the c0rrid0r. "Dale!"

"Dale! Dale! The d00r's l0cked!" cried Miss C0rnelia.