Chick saw her disappear into a room beyond the kitchen, and he instantly seized the opportunity presented. He darted across the clearing and crouched for a moment near the open door.
Listening, he could hear the woman moving in an interior room, but there was no sound of voices.
“She’s alone here, all right, barring whoever is on the top floor,” Chick reasoned. “I’ll get her, for a starter, and then look farther.”
He did not defer operations. He was in a proper mood for aggressive action. He stole quickly through the kitchen and to the open door of the adjoining room, in which Jane Ardley then was engaged in clearing the breakfast table.
The floor creaked under Chick’s weight, and the woman turned and saw him.
As quick as a flash she seized a knife from the table and snarled savagely:
“Who in thunder are you?”
“Tell me, instead, who you are and who is confined in your attic,” Chick sternly answered.
Before the last was fairly uttered, however, the woman went ghastly white, then dropped the knife and turned toward the nearest window.
That she was going to scream for help was obvious, and Chick’s face turned as hard as flint. He reached the woman with a bound, seized her by the throat to prevent any outcry, and forced her against the wall in one corner.