“No, but a sort of faintness came over me, there by the table, and I grabbed at it and upset the lamp.”

Rawson looked at the table with the shattered fragments of the lamp beside it. It was not far from the entrance door.

“Did you see anything—anything outside?”

“No, not a thing and I didn’t hear a sound.”

“What do you suppose made you feel faint?”

“Oh!” She dared to make a gesture, upraised hands that dropped limply. “Hasn’t there been enough here to make anybody faint?”

“You’ve got to remember, Rawson,” said Bassett[Pg 146] who thought the man’s insistence unnecessary, “what a shock this has been—especially to Miss Tracy who was Miss Saunders’ friend.”

[Pg 146]

“I remember.” Then to Anne: “Miss Tracy, if you should withhold any information from us you’d get yourself into a very uncomfortable position.”

“I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t,” she breathed.

Rawson’s glance remained on her, dubiously intent. Bassett noted it with a resentment he found it difficult to hide.

“You can absolutely rely on Miss Tracy,” he said. “She would be perfectly frank with you if she had anything to tell.”

“No doubt, no doubt,” said the other, and walked to the entrance. “I’m going out to have a look around.” On the sill he turned and addressed Anne. “I gave some instructions to you ladies and I expected to have them followed. You’ll please remember them in the future.”

He passed out into the brilliancy of the moonlight. Now that he was gone Bassett felt he must [Pg 147]make her understand. He had been astonished at what she had done. It was so unlike her, a disobedience of orders at such a time as this.

[Pg 147]

“You must do what they tell you, Anne. They have to make these rules and it’s up to us to keep them.”

“I will now. You can trust me. Mr. Williams, you can see how it was. I couldn’t sleep and my mind was full of this awful thing, and I thought if I could put it on something else—get free from my thoughts even for a few minutes!”

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