Gradually she became more collected. If an opportunity was to come for a way out she must look for it. She wondered if it would be possible to throw Larry off his guard. Could he be duped by an apparent acceptance of the situation on her part until such time as she found an avenue of escape? If he could be lulled into relaxing his precautions she might at the worst get some word to the local police or perhaps even to Labar. She doubted if she had the nerve to hold her emotions and her fears in control to that extent, but even while she reflected she was fingering one of the dresses on the bed. And scarcely conscious of what she was doing she changed and wandered out down the old oaken staircase. An uneasy feeling that hidden eyes were watching her every movement possessed her, but that she put down to her shaken nerves. A gloomy quiet brooded over the house. Once she gently opened one of the massive doors and peeped into a sombre panelled room furnished as a study. A dog growled and she had a glimpse of a big Alsatian wolf-hound rising menacingly from the hearth. She hurriedly closed the door. Apart from that she heard no sound of life about the place. Avoiding the morning-room which she had seen Hughes enter on their arrival, she strolled with an appearance of nonchalance that cost her an effort to maintain into the grounds. They had a derelict and unkempt appearance. Indeed, viewed from the outside the whole house and its domain afforded a singular contrast from the well-kept if gloomy interior. Ragged and untrimmed shrubs, overgrown flowerbeds, lank grass and ill-kept gravel paths all told of neglect that, she noted, must have been deliberately intended to convey an impression to any visitor straying in the vicinity. The tall weather-beaten concrete wall, however, showed no sign of deterioration. She followed it round till she came to the wrought iron gates of the drive. They were closed and a steel chain secured by an efficient modern padlock held them. Penelope glanced around. Then she shook the gates. They were immovable. A wild notion had come to her and she thoughtfully examined the spikes on the top. They were not so formidable. An active person with a little care might scale the gates without injury. She set a foot on one of the twirls of the iron and gripping the bars pulled herself up. Her hand had reached the topmost spikes and she was seeking farther foothold when she heard a discreet cough. Tom, the valet, who had accompanied Hughes, was standing a few yards back chewing a straw and regarding her speculatively. With as much dignity as she could muster she lowered herself to the grounds. "I shouldn't try that again if I were you, miss," he said respectfully. "You might hurt yourself. Besides, all those things are wired to alarms in the house." The girl stooped to brush herself. When she arose she flashed an ingenuous smile towards the man.