Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER VII. How Tita Is "caught," But By One Whom She Did Not Expect; And How She Played With Fire For A Little Bit; And How Finally She RAN AWAY. Rylton, striding upstairs, makes straight for the picture-gallery. It strikes him as he passes along the corridor that leads to it that a most unearthly silence reigns everywhere, and yet a sort of silence that with difficulty holds back the sound behind it. A strange feeling that every dark corner contains some hidden thing that could at a second's notice spring out upon him oppresses him, and, indeed, such a feeling is not altogether without justification. Many eyes look out at him at these corners as he goes by, and once the deadly silence is broken by a titter, evidently forcibly suppressed! Rylton takes no notice, however. His wrath is still so warm that he thinks of nothing but the picture-gallery, and that screen at the end of it—where she, his wife, Now, there is a screen just inside the entrance to this gallery, and behind it are Minnie Hescottand Mr. Gower. Randal's eyes are sharp, but Minnie's even sharper. They both note, not only Maurice's abrupt entrance, but the expression on his face. "Do something—quickly," says Minnie, giving Randal a little energetic push that all but overturns the screen. "Anything! To half my kingdom; but what?" demands Mr. Gower, in a whisper very low, as befits the occasion. "Tita is down there with Tom," says Miss Hescott, pointing to the far end of the long, dimly-lit gallery. "Do you want to see murder done?" "Not much," says Gower. "But—how am I to prevent it?" "Don't you know what you must do?" says she energetically. "Those idiots downstairs have forsaken us. Run up the room as quick as you can—past Sir Maurice—and pretend you are the one who is hunting. /'// go f...