here without being seen."

Assuredly there were sounds emanating from the top of the house. A voice
was raised in angry expostulation, followed by other voices morose and
threatening. As far as the listeners could judge, two men were dragging a
third down the stairs against his will. But for that, the house was
deadly silent; the watchers could hear the jingle of a passing cab bell,
a belated foot passenger whistled as he went along. It seemed almost
impossible to believe that so close to light and law and order and the
well-being of the town a strange tragedy like this should be in progress;
hidden from the eye of London, by mere skill of brick and mortar, this
strange thing was going on. Venner wondered to himself how many such
scenes were taking place in London at the same moment.

But he had not much time for his meditation, for the shuffling of feet
came closer. There were no more sounds of expostulation now; only the
heavy breathing of three people, as if the captive had ceased to struggle
and was making but a passive resistance. Then there emerged on the
landing the figure of the handsome cripple with a guardian on either
side. His face was no longer distorted with pain; rather was it white
with an overpowering anger--his eyes shone like points of flame. On his
right side Venner and Gurdon recognised the figure of the man in the
list slippers--the man who had been handling the sovereigns in Fenwick's
rooms. His comrade was a stranger, though of the same type, and it seemed
to Venner that anyone would have been justified in repudiating either of
them as an acquaintance. It was perfectly evident that the cripple came
against his will, though he was struggling no longer. Probably the
condition of his emaciated frame had rendered the task of his captors an
easy one. They dragged him, limp and exhausted, into the drawing-room
where Fenwick was seated and they stood in the doorway awaiting further