The minutes had passed but the situation remained unchanged, though the ingenuity of certainly two of the occupants of the room had been tormented into shreds to discover a means of turning it to their advantage. So far the terrible omniscience of the blind man in the dark and the respect for his markmanship with which his coolness had inspired them, dominated the group. But one strong card yet remained to be played, and at last the moment came upon which the conspirators had pinned their despairing hopes. There was the sound of movement in the hall outside, not the first about the house, but towards the new complication Carrados had been strangely unobservant. True, Montmorency had talked rather loudly, to carry over the dangerous moments. But now there came an unmistakable step and to the accomplices it could only mean one thing. Montmorency was ready on the instant. "Down, Dom!" he cried, "throw yourself down! Break in, Guido. Break in the door. We are held up!" There was an immediate response. The door, under the pressure of a human battering-ram, burst open with a crash. On the threshold the intruders--four or five in number--stopped starkly for a moment, held in astonishment by the extraordinary scene that the light from the hall, and of their own bull's-eyes, revealed. Flat on their faces, to present the least possible surface to Carrados's aim, Dompierre and Montmorency lay extended beside the window and behind the door. On the couch, with her head buried beneath the cushions, Madame Dompierre sought to shut out the sight and sound of violence. Carrados--Carrados had not moved, but with arms resting on the table and fingers placidly locked together he smiled benignly on the new arrivals. His attitude, compared with the extravagance of those around him, gave the impression of a complacent modern deity presiding over some grotesque ceremonial of pagan worship. "So, Inspector, you could not wait for me, after all?" was his greeting. THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE Minor punctuation errors have been repaired. An inconsistency in the spelling of Messina/Messana (pages 269 and 274) has been retained. The following amendments have been made: Page 250--Carados amended to Carrados--""True," agreed Carrados." Page 251--urning amended to turning--"They walked through the house, and turning to the right ..."