Howell: "You seem to have been improving the time! You think I'm safe to wait, then, a day or two? I simply must see her before she gets away, you know."
Lyon: "No sign of departure, the code said."
Howell. "And will you know if she should suddenly show signs of departure?"
Lyon: "Yes. Her curtain will be lowered. Clear down means gone."
Howell: "That will be too late."
Lyon: "She isn't likely to bolt without warning, and no one would be in better position to take note than Miss Kittie."
Howell: "All right, I'll depend on that, then. But if Bede finds her first, I'll regret my humanity."
Lyon: "I think we're safe."
Howell: "Perhaps. But not sure." And he rang off.
When Lyon returned to the dining room, he found that the door was ajar, though he had thought that he closed it after him when going to the 'phone. If his host had been curious enough to listen to one side of the conversation, Lyon hoped that he might have found it interesting. Intelligible it could hardly have been.