is Mrs. Taylor?" he cried.

"She went below, sir," said the man, hesitating; but Montague sprang
past him and down the companionway.

At the foot of the stairs he found himself in a broad entrance-hall,
lighted by a glass dome above. He sprang toward a door which opened
in the direction of the cry he had heard, and shouted aloud, "Lucy!
Lucy!" He heard her answer beyond the doorway, and he seized the
knob and tried it. The door was locked.

"Open the door!" he shouted.

There was no sound. "Open the door!" he called again, "or I'll break
it down."

Suiting his action to the word, he flung his weight upon it. The
barrier cracked; and then suddenly he heard a man's voice. "All
right. Wait."

Someone fumbled at the knob; and Montague stood crouching and
watching breathlessly, prepared for anything. The door opened, and
he found himself confronted by Dan Waterman.

Montague recoiled a step in consternation; and the other strode out,
and without a word went past him down the hall. There was just time
enough for Montague to receive one look--of the most furious rage
that he had ever seen upon a human face.

He rushed into the room. Lucy was standing at the farther end,