He slipped from the door. The little side corridor was as yet empty. For a second or two he listened intently. There were no footsteps as yet audible in the main corridor. In half-a-dozen swift strides he reached the door of his own room, turned the handle, and passed inside. Almost immediately there were footsteps in the corridor outside. The bell of the room opposite was answered. Again silence! The seconds grew into minutes, and the minutes passed away. Then his door was suddenly opened from the outside, softly and silently. Winifred Rowan stood there on the threshold of his room, with the handle of the door still in her hand, and to his fancy there was something ominous in the way she looked at him. "You need search no more," she said. "I have found the paper." He held out his hand. "The reward is yours!" he declared. She drew away from him. "I shall claim it very soon," she said. "Ring your bell at seven o'clock, when I shall be on duty, and I will bring it to you. Hush!" She glided away and closed the door. Deane drew a long breath. So it was over, then,--over, and he had won! CHAPTER XX IN DOUBT Punctually at seven o'clock next morning Deane rang his bell. Once more the fat old lady entered, with her amiable smile and slow movements. "Some tea, sir?" she asked. Deane looked at her for a moment without speaking. "When does the other chambermaid come on duty?" he asked. "She ought to be on now," was the answer, "but she hasn't come. I've just sent the 'boots' up to her room." Deane ordered some hot water and lay still for half-an-hour. Then he rang the bell again. The same woman came. "Would you like your tea, sir?" she asked. "If you please," he answered. She was already half-way out of the door before he stopped her. "You are still on duty, then?" he said. "The other chambermaid can't be found, sir," she answered. "Her bed hasn't been slept in, and she doesn't seem to be anywhere about the place." Deane nodded. It was, after all, perhaps the most sensible thing she could do to get clear away! "Send me my tea at eight o'clock," he ordered, "and let me have a bath at once." "The valet shall come and tell you when it is ready, sir," she answered. He passed a tip across to the woman, who accepted it. "Tell the waiter when he brings the tea to give me my bill," he said. In an hour's time Deane had left the hotel. He had seen nothing more of Winifred Rowan, and on the whole he was disposed to applaud her precaution. He drove at once to his rooms, where Grant, his man, was already installed. "I shall catch the mid-day train to Scotland, Grant," he announced. "Telephone up for seats and sleeping-berths. Also telephone to the office, and tell them to ring up here at once if a young lady should make any inquiries for me. Perhaps they had better send her on here."