"Come to me"—it began without form of address, "—if you value your safety. I will wait near the gate until midnight. Don't delay, for the danger of which I told you is culminating and any hour may precipitate the crisis when it will be beyond my power to help or warn you."
The brief note was unsigned and the flowing characteristic hand was unfamiliar to her, but no question of evading the command entered her thoughts. She must get to him, though it meant running the gauntlet of sharp eyes and ears below, and actual peril should she be discovered. She threw a dark cloak over her dinner gown, determined if she were intercepted to plead a headache and the desire for a turn in the fresh air before retiring. Once clear of the house she feared nothing for she knew that Demon was held in wholesome awe by even the redoubtable Welch. The only danger would be that the dog himself might spring upon her in the dark, but that risk she must face.
Opening her door softly, Betty listened to the low murmur of voices from below. It seemed to come from the music room, and she waited until she had distinguished each voice and assured herself that all three of Mrs. Atterbury's guests were with her before venturing down the hall.
The main staircase was out of the question and she chose the one at the rear. It descended to the servants' quarters, but she knew that the cook had long since retired and the rattle of silverware told her that Welch was busied in the dining-room. There remained only Caroline to be considered and she was seldom in evidence at this hour.
Betty moved to the head of the stairs and listened again intently. No sound penetrated from the lower regions of the house and the hall light was dim. Cautiously, with her heart pounding in her throat, she descended to a narrow landing midway of the staircase, when the kitchen door was suddenly opened emitting a broad stream of light and Caroline appeared, bearing a steaming pitcher.
Trapped, Betty glanced wildly about her and saw a small door at the left of the landing. Flinging it open she sprang into the black void beyond, her forehead striking smartly against the edge of a shelf. As she grasped it to steady herself her fingers came in contact with glass jars placed solidly in rows; evidently she had stumbled into a store-closet.
Behind her she heard slow heavy steps mounting the stairs and she scarcely breathed as they paused on the landing within arm's length of her refuge. Had the woman seen her? But even as the fear gripped her, Betty heard the complaining creak of the stairs once more and the ponderous tread ascended, diminishing to silence along the upper hall.
Waiting no longer, she slipped from the closet and fairly flew down to the kitchen. Welch had not yet made his rounds and the heavy back door, unlatched, swung wide at her touch. With a sob of thankfulness she found herself out in the pine-scented darkness, with only the whisper of the wind in the evergreens and the distant shriek of whistles upon the river to break the silence. She was free!
There was a low light in the upper story of the garage and with it to guide her she sped around the corner of the house on the opposite side from that on which the music room was located, crouching low beneath the window sills and darting from one sheltering clump of trees to another. She found the path but the darkness confused her and more than once she strayed from it to strike against a wide spreading branch or sink to her knees in a tangle of underbrush.
The distance seemed interminable to the gate, and Betty was commencing to fear that she had lost her way when a low rumbling growl reached her ears, and a cautious masculine voice, silencing it, brought a soft little cry from her own lips.