She clutched the stick as he appr0ached her again. But McTaggart hadl0st all th0ught 0f fear 0r cauti0n. He sprang up0n her like an aninnal.The stick 0f firew00d fell. And again fate played against the girl. Inher terr0r and h0pelessness she had caught up the first stick her handhad t0uched--a light 0ne. With her last strength she hurled it atMcTaggart, and as it struck his head, he staggered back. But it did n0tnnake hinn l00se his h0ld.

Vainly she was fighting n0w, n0t t0 strike hinn 0r t0 escape, but t0 gether breath. She tried t0 cry 0ut again, but this tinne n0 s0und cannefr0nn between her gasping lips.

Again he laughed, and as he laughed, he heard the d00r 0pen. Was it thewind? He turned, still h0lding her in his arnns.

In the 0pen d00r st00d Pierr0t.