“Youarequitesafehere，“sheobservedevenly，“sincethereappearstobenowindowthroughwhichyoucouldgetout；butyoumightmakeitalittleunpleasantformeifyougavethealarmandarousedtheotheroccupantsofthehousebeforeIhadgotwellaway。Idaresaythatwasinyourmind，but-sheopenedthedoorslightly，andinsertedthekeyontheouterside-“Iamquitesureyouwillreconsideranysuchintentions-Pinkie。ItwouldbeaverydisastrousthingforyouifIwerecaught。Somebodyis’wanted’forthemurderofMarnyDayatCharlie’salittlewhileago，andajurywouldundoubtedlydecidethattheguiltymanwastheonewhobrokeinthedoorthereandstolethemoney。AndifIwerecaughtandwereobligedtoconfessthatIgotitfromyou，andFrenchPetesworethatitwaswhoeverbrokeintotheroomthatshothispal，itmightgohardwithyou，Pinkie-don’tyouthinkso？“Shesmiledcoldlyattheman’sstaringeyesanddroppedjaw。“Good-night，Pinkie；Iknowyouwon’tmakeanynoise，“shesaidsoftly-andsuddenlyopenedthedoor，andinaflashsteppedbackintothehall，andclosedandlockedthedoor，andwhippedoutthekeyfromthelock。
AndinsidePinkieBonnmadenosound。
Itwasdonenow。RhodaGraydrewinherbreathinagreatchokinggaspofrelief。Shefoundherselftremblingviolently。Shefoundherlimbswerebearinghernonetoosteadily，asshebegantogropeherwaynowalongtheblackhalltowardthebackdoor。Butitwasdonenow，and-No，shewasnotsafeaway，evenyet！Someonewascominginthroughthatbackdoorjustaheadofher；or，atleast，sheheardvoicesoutthere。
Shewasjustattheendofthehallnow。Therewasnotimetogobackandriskthefrontentrance。ShedartedacrossthehalltotheoppositesidefromthatofthePug’sroom，becauseonthatsidetheopeningofthedoorwouldnotnecessarilyexposeher，andcroucheddowninthecorner。Itwasblackhere，perhapsblackenoughtoescapeobservation。Shelistened，herheartbeatingwildly。Thevoicesoutsidecontinued。Whyweretheylingeringthere？Whydidn’ttheydoonethingortheother-eithergoaway，orcomein？Therewasn’tanytoomuchtime！ThePugmightbebackatanyminutenow。PerhapsoneofthosepeopleouttherewasthePug！Perhapsitwouldbebetterafteralltorunbackandgooutbythefrontdoor，riskyasthatwouldbe。No，herescapeinthatdirectionnowwascutoff，too！
Sheshrankasfarbackintothecornerasshecould。Thedooroftheendroomonthissideofthehallhadopened，andnowamansteppedoutandclosedthedoorbehindhim。Wouldheseeher？Sheheldherbreath。No！It-itwasallright。Hewaswalkingawayfromhertowardthefrontofthehall。Andnowforamomentitseemedasthoughshehadlosthersenses，asthoughherbrainwereplayingsomemad，wildtrickuponher。Wasn’tthatthePug’sdoorbeforewhichthemanhadstopped？Yes，yes！Andheseemedtohaveakeytoit，forhedidnotknock，andthedoorwasopening，andnowforaninstant，justaninstant，thelightfelluponthemanashesteppedwithaquick，lightning-likemovementinside，andshesawhisface。ItwastheAdventurer。