But the man did hesitate to obey this command and glanced nervously toward the door, which he had left open when he entered the room, as if contemplating a bold dash for freedom. Then he suddenly changed his mind, as the small hand which held that costly revolver was slightly raised as if to take a truer aim, and he obediently dropped into the chair which Mollie had indicated, then added in a tone of mingled wrath and admiration:
"Well, for a girl of your years, you're the coolest specimen I've ever seen."
"Yes, I know something about firearms. I had considerable practise shooting at a target in a gallery in Paris a couple of years ago," remarked the intrepid girl with deliberate distinctness.
Her captive cringed visibly at her remark, and, observing it, she realized that he was at heart a coward in spite of his profession and his attempt to bully her, and her courage rose in proportion. Just then she heard a vehicle outside slacken speed and stop before the house. The burglar also caught the sound and an anxious look shot into his eyes.
"What's that?" he demanded roughly; "the boss coming home?"
"No; Monsieur Lamonti will not return until to-morrow, or until this afternoon, I should have said," Mollie composedly remarked. Then she added with a gleam of triumph in her blue eyes:
"I am expecting some friends whom I have summoned to aid me in this emergency; doubtless they have arrived."
"The cops!" cried the burglar in a startled tone.
"Yes."
"How on earth did you manage that?" he questioned breathlessly.