I felt rebelliously glad that she had not suspected.

“I blame myself for it all,” I bowed. “It was very careless of me.”

“I'm afraid so, after all the warning you have had,” said Mrs. Knapp.

“But as it turned out, no harm was done,” I said cheerfully.

“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Knapp absently. Then she spoke with sudden attention. “Do you think your enemies followed you there?”

I was taken aback with the vision of the Wolf figure in the grimy passage, a fiend in the intoxication of opium, and stammered for a reply.

“My snake-eyed friend made himself a little familiar, I'm afraid,” I admitted.

“It is dreadful that these dangers should follow you everywhere,” said Mrs. Knapp with feeling. “You must be careful.”

“I have developed eyes in the back of my head,” I said, smiling at her concern.

“I fear you need more than that. Now tell me how it all happened, just as you saw it. I'm afraid Luella was a little too hysterical to give a true account of it.”