My heart stopped beating for an instant and then galloped on again, and I lowered myself to my knees and pressed my mouth to the keyhole.
“Margaret!” I whispered softly. “Is that you, dear?”
There was a little gasp behind the door and a quick movement. “Oh, who is that? Who are you?”
“It’s your brother, darling!” I answered hoarsely. “It’s Jack! For God’s sake tell me, what have they done to you?” I fumbled at the knob. “Can you open the door?”
“No, I’m locked in. Oh, Jack! Jack! You’ve found me! I knew you would! Oh, take me away from here! Take me home again!”
“I will, dear, I will! God knows I will! But not yet. I’ve got to get help first. Tell me, what have they done to you?”
There came a little sob. “Nothing, Jack, until to-night. They’ve been pretty good to me, because they say that if I cry it will spoil my looks. They’ve made me dance twice and wouldn’t let me wear hardly any clothes. But no one has been rude to me, or anything—until to-night——”
“What happened to-night, dear?” I demanded hoarsely.
“They—they beat me. They tied my hands to a pillar and tied up my mouth and beat me. Oh, Jack, take me home!”
Such black rage surged up in me at that, that I could only kneel there on the floor, shaking with it. I could not answer her for a while.