"They do," said she flatly. Before I could quite recover from this sentient dig, she was ordering me to put the bathtub where it belonged. This task completed, I looked up. She was standing near the head of the bed, with a revolver in her hand. I stared. "I keep it under my pillow, Mr. Smart," she said nervously. I said nothing, and she replaced it under the pillow, handling the deadly weapon as gingerly as if it were the frailest glass. "Of course I couldn't hit anything with it, and I know I should scream when it went off, but still--accidents will happen, you know." "Urn!" said I, judicially. "And so my study is just beyond this mirror, eh? May I enquire how you happen to know that I have my study there?" "Oh, I peeked in the other day," she said, serene once more. "The deuce you did!" "I was quite sure that you were out," she explained. "I opened Ludwig the Red an inch or two, that's all. You are quite cosy in there, aren't you? I envy you the grand old _chaise longe_." I wavered, but succeeded in subduing the impulse. "It is the only comfortable piece of furniture I have left in my apartments," said I, with convincing candour. "You poor man," she said, with her rarest smile. "How fortunate you are that I did not remember the chaise longe. You would have been deprived of it, I am quite sure. Of course I couldn't think of robbing you of it now." "As a matter of fact, I never lie in it," I said, submitting to a once conquered impulse. "If you'd really like to have it, I'll see that it is taken up to your rooms at once." "Thank you," she said, shaking her head. "It's kind of you, but I am not so selfish as all that, believe me." "It is--quite in the way, Countess." "Some one would be sure to miss it if you sent it up now," she said reflectively. "We'll wait till they're all gone," said I. She smiled and the bargain was settled without a word from her. You've heard of men being wrapped about little fingers, haven't you? Well, there you are. We returned to the corridor. She closed the door softly, a mockery in view of the clatter I had made in shifting the bed and its impediments. "We can't be too careful," she said in a whisper. She might have spoken through a megaphone and still been quite safe. We were tramping up the stairs. "Don't you think your guests will consider you rather inhospitable if you stay away from them all morning?" I stopped short. "By Jove, now that you remind me of it, I promised to take them all out for a spin in the motor boat before luncheon. Hazzard has had his boat sent down." She looked positively unhappy. "Oh, how I should love to get out for a spin on the river! I wonder if I'll ever be free to enjoy the things I like most of--" "Listen!" I whispered suddenly, grasping her arm. "Did you hear footsteps in the--Sh!" Some one was walking over the stone floor in the lower hall, brisk strides that rang out quite clearly as they drew nearer.