A bell was ringing furiously. Its din grew louder and louder; it became insupportable. Cairn threw out his arms and staggered up like a man intoxicated. He grasped at the table-lamp only just in time to prevent it overturning.
The ringing was that of his telephone bell. He had been unconscious, then—under some spell!
He unhooked the receiver—and heard his father's voice.
"That you, Rob?" asked the doctor anxiously.
"Yes, sir," replied Cairn, eagerly, and he opened the drawer and slid his hand in for the silken cord.
"There is something you have to tell me?"
Cairn, without preamble, plunged excitedly into an account of his meeting with Ferrara. "The silk cord," he concluded, "I have in my hand at the present moment, and—"
"Hold on a moment!" came Dr. Cairn's voice, rather grimly.
Followed a short interval; then—