The knob turned, and the door opened behind me. A beam of light shot past me, for a moment illuminating the hairy face and dripping fangs of the brute. Then a shot rang out, the light faded from the luminous eyes, and the beast sank slowly to the floor, blood gushing from its mouth and nostrils.
“Good shot, doctor,” I said, turning and releasing my hold on the battered chair. To my surprise I saw Miss Van Loan holding the flashlight in one hand and a smoking pistol in the other, while great tears trickled down her cheeks.
“You!” I cried.
“I was holding these while the doctor went for a ladder,” she said. “He was going to try to help you by climbing up to the window. Then I heard you call. Poor Sandy.”
“Too bad you had to kill your pet,” I replied, closing the door and relieving her of gun and torch.
“W—wasn’t it horrible?” she sobbed. “B-but I had to do it. He might have k-killed you.”
I was about to thank her for having saved my life when the young doctor suddenly came up from the basement, dragging a stepladder. Seeing us standing there in the hall, he laid it down and joined us.
“You have been rescued, I see,” he said.
“Most bravely,” I replied.
“Did the beast bite or scratch you?”