“At a bound she reached the window, and struck a rapid series of blows with her fingers upon the pane.
“Five minutes afterward a heavy step was heard ascending the private staircase. I went to the door and unlocked it; the step approached—stopped at the door—the door opened, and Mortimer appeared.
“‘Come in, my dear brother-in-law,’ I said, ‘we are waiting for you.’”
XXIII. — THE RESULT OF THE SIGNAL.
“Mortimer recoiled as if a blow had been suddenly struck at him. His astonishment was so comic that I began to laugh.
“‘Good! you start!’ I said. ‘You thought I was dead by this time?’
“‘Yes,’ he coolly replied.
“As he spoke, his hand stole under the cloak in which he was wrapped, and I heard the click of a pistol as he cocked it. I drew my own weapon, cocked it in turn, and placing the muzzle upon Mortimer’s breast, said:—