by. He came out and ran swiftly and noiselessly in the other direction,
and in a moment the steps were after him. He found the long corridor and
raced along it at top speed. The stairs he knew were at the end, and
with the steps close behind he descended them in blind haste. The steps
gained on him, and he shrank to the side to let them pass, still
continuing his headlong flight. Then suddenly he seemed to slip off the
earth into space.


Lester awoke in the morning to find the sunshine streaming into the room,
and White sitting up and regarding with some perplexity a badly blistered
finger.

"Where are the others?" inquired Lester. "Gone, I suppose," said White.
"We must have been asleep."

Lester arose, and stretching his stiffened limbs, dusted his clothes with
his hands, and went out into the corridor. White followed. At the noise
of their approach a figure which had been lying asleep at the other end
sat up and revealed the face of Barnes. "Why, I've been asleep," he said
in surprise. "I don't remember coming here. How did I get here?"

"Nice place to come for a nap," said Lester, severely, as he pointed to
the gap in the balusters. "Look there! Another yard and where would you
have been?"

He walked carelessly to the edge and looked over. In response to his
startled cry the others drew near, and all three stood gazing at the dead
man below.