had come in, and beyond which the rain was beating tremendously.
Evidently they had found a rear entrance to this cavern.

"We are past our troubles now, Elinor," Vic said.
"There's the real out-of-doors, and I feel sure of the rest
of the way. This seems to be a sort of cave, and we have come
in kind of irregularly by the back door or down the chimney.
But here we are at the real front door. Shall we go on?"

Elinor leaned wearily against the wall, wet and cold, and almost exhausted.

"Let's wait a little, till this shower passes," she pleaded.

"You poor girl! This has been an awful night," Vic said gently.

Their eyes were getting accustomed to the darkness and they saw
more clearly the outline of the opening to the outside world.
Suddenly Elinor shivered as again the nearness of a presence
somewhere possessed them both.

"Let's go! Let's go!" she whispered, huddling close to her companion,
whose grip on her arm tightened.

He was conscious of a light behind him. Glancing over
his shoulder, he caught a gleam beyond the opening in the rear
wall through which they had just crept; and in that gleam,
a villainous face, with still black eyes, looking straight at him.
The light disappeared, and he heard the faint sound of something
creeping toward them. Vic could fight any man living.
Nature built him for that. He had no fear for himself.