"A little," she admitted, "not very. But oh! I am so thankful--so
thankful!"
He leaned a little nearer towards her. She looked at him wonderingly.
Suddenly the colour flushed into her cheeks.
"I couldn't have done without you, Lenora," he whispered, as he kissed
her.
Lenora had almost recovered when they reached the hotel. Walking up and
down they found the Professor. His face, as he came towards them, was
almost pitiful. He scarcely noticed Lenora's deshabille, which was in a
measure concealed by the cloak which Quest had thrown around her.
"My friend!" he exclaimed--"Mr. Quest! It is the devil incarnate against
whom we fight!"
"What do you mean?" Quest demanded.
The Professor wrung his hands.
"I put him in our James the Second prison," he declared. "Why should I
think of the secret passage? No one has used it for a hundred years. He
found it, learnt the trick--"
"You mean," Quest cried--
"He has escaped!" the Professor broke in. "Craig has escaped again! They
are searching for him high and low, but he has gone!"
Quest's arm tightened for a moment in Lenora's. It was curious how he
seemed to have lost at that moment all sense of proportion. Lenora was
safe--the relief of that one thought overshadowed everything else in the
world.
"The fellow can't get far," he muttered.
"Who knows?" the Professor replied dolefully. "The passage--I'll show it
you some day and you'll see how wonderful his escape has been--leads on to
the first floor of the house.
Pages:
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228