Actually, though he was talking to us, it was in a way that enabled him by palming something in his hand, I fancied, to look at it. It was, though I did not know it, the hastily scrawled warning of the valet.
It must have been hard to read, for I managed by a quick shift at last to catch just a fleeting glimpse that it was a piece of paper he held in his hand. What was it, I asked myself, that he should be so secret about it? Clearly, I reasoned, it must be something that was of interest to Elaine and myself. If I must act ever, I concluded, now was the time to do so.
Suddenly I reached out and snatched the note from his hand. But before
I could read it Del Mar had sprung to his feet.
At the same instant a man leaped out from behind the curtains.
But I was on my guard. Already I had drawn my revolver and had them all covered before they could make another move.
"Back into that corner—by the window—all of you," I ordered, thinking thus to get them together, more easily covered. Then, handing the note, with my other hand, to Elaine, I said to her, "See what it says—quick."
Eagerly she took it and read aloud, "House surrounded by soldiers."
"Woodward," I cried.
Still keeping them covered, I smiled quietly to myself and took one step after another slowly to the door. Elaine followed.
I reached the door and I remember that I had to step on a metal mat to do so. I put my hand behind me and grasped the knob about to open the door.