"Don't open the door!" cried Mrs. Stevens in a panic, as if it
was her door which was threatened. "Audrey! Elsie! Don't let
him in!"

"Damn it, open the door!" came the voice again.

"We're all going to be murdered in our beds," she quavered.
Terrified, the two girls huddled closer, and with an arm round
each, Mrs. Stevens sat there, waiting.




CHAPTER II

Mr. Gillingham Gets Out at the Wrong Station


Whether Mark Ablett was a bore or not depended on the point of
view, but it may be said at once that he never bored his company
on the subject of his early life. However, stories get about.
There is always somebody who knows. It was understood--and this,
anyhow, on Mark's own authority--that his father had been a
country clergyman. It was said that, as a boy, Mark had
attracted the notice, and patronage, of some rich old spinster of
the neighbourhood, who had paid for his education, both at school
and university. At about the time when he was coming down from
Cambridge, his father had died; leaving behind him a few debts,
as a warning to his family, and a reputation for short sermons,