again. But they did not seek his. Instead she covered her
horrified eyes with them, and she shook all over.

When he had finished he could see she was fighting for
self-control. Then, in a flood, the power of speech came back
to her.

"Oh!" she gasped. her flower-face white and drawn,
in the faint light. "Oh, it can't be. It can't! There must
be a hideous mistake somewhere!"

"There is," he agreed. with a momentary return to his former
manner. "There was one mistake. I made it, by escaping.
Otherwise the plan was flawless. Luckily. a key had been
left on the floor. And luckily. I got hold of it. Luckily,
too, I had a match with me. And. if there are sharks as near
land as this, luckily you happened to meet me as I was
swimming for shore. As to mistakes--. Have you a
flashlight?"

From her pocket she drew a small electric torch she had had
the foresight to pick up from the hall table as she ran out.
Gavin took it and turned its rays on his wet ankles. His
shoes and trouser-legs still showed clear signs of the
scorching they had received. And his palms were cut and
abraded.

"If I had wanted to make up a story," said he. "I could have
devised one that didn't call for such painful stage-setting."