For a second she stood hesitating; then her own weakness, her own shrinking dismay, were submerged in the interest of his movements. Slowly mounting the remaining steps, she followed him as if fascinated towards the door that showed dingily conspicuous in the light of an unshaded gas-jet. Almost at the moment that she reached his side he extended his hand towards the door. The action was decisive and hurried, as though he feared to trust himself. For a space he fumbled with the lock. And Eve, standing close behind him, heard the handle creak and turn under his pressure. Then he shook the door. At last, slowly, almost reluctantly, he turned round. “I'm afraid things aren't quite quite right,” he said, in a low voice. “The door is locked and I can see no light.” She raised her eyes quickly. “But you have a key?” she whispered. “Haven't you got a key?” It was obvious that, to both, the unexpected check to their designs was fraught with danger. “Yes, but--” He looked towards the door. “Yes--I have a key. Yes, you're right!” he added, quickly. “I'll use it. Wait, while I go inside.” Filled with a new nervousness, oppressed by the loneliness, the silence about her, Eve drew back obediently. The sense of mystery conveyed by the closed door weighed upon her. Her susceptibilities were tensely alert as she watched Loder search for his key and insert it in the lock. With mingled dread and curiosity she saw the door yield, and gape open like a black gash in the dingy wall; and with a sudden sense of desertion she saw him pass through the aperture and heard him strike a match. The wait that followed seemed extraordinarily long. Listening intently, she heard him move softly from one room to the other. And at last, to her acutely nervous susceptibilities, it seemed that he paused in absolute silence. In the intensity of listening, she heard her own faint, irregular breathing, and the sound filled her with panic. The quiet, the solitude, the vague, instinctive apprehension, became suddenly unendurable. Then all at once the tension was relieved.. Loder reappeared. He paused for a second in the shadowy door-way; then he turned unsteadily, drew the door to, and locked; it. Eve stepped forward. Her glimpse of him had been momentary--and she had not heard his voice--yet the consciousness of his bearing filled her with instinctive alarm. Abruptly, and without reason, their hands turned cold, her heart began to beat violently. “John--” she said below her breath. For answer, he moved towards her. His face was bereft of color; there was a look of consternation in his eyes. “Come!” he said. “Come at once! I must take you home.” He spoke in a shaken, uneven voice. Eve, looking up at him, caught his hand. “Why? Why?” she questioned. Her tone was low and scared. Without replying, he drew her imperatively towards the stairs. “Go very softly,” he commanded. “No one must see you here.”