The cry of a beaten animal burst from the cowering woman's lips, and her form shook with fear.
"You cannot deny it," added Norris, following up his advantage, while Cissy and Hawthorne looked on in breathless interest.
She lifted her pallid face and groaned:
"Who is my accuser?"
"I am, and this gentleman here, Miss Harding's betrothed, the Harry Hawthorne whom it was pretended in that forged note the young lady had eloped with. I have been watching you and Standish for several weeks, Miss Erroll, and had I not been called away by other business, you had never succeeded in that nefarious abduction. But I have facts enough to warrant me in threatening you with arrest unless you make a full confession!"
"Arrest me?"
Almost hissing the words, she sprang to her feet, glaring fiercely at him, but the flash of bravado did not intimidate the fearless little detective.
"Yes, you," he answered, coolly. "But, after all, I do not like to war upon a woman, even a bad one; so tell me the truth now if you want to escape a prison-cell."
Quaking with fear, she dropped back into her chair, covering her writhing features with her trembling white hands.
After waiting a moment vainly for her to answer, he asked: