Go into my study, and you will see
two doors facing you. Take the one on the left and close it behind
you. You will be perfectly safe.'
And this extraordinary man took up his pen again.
I did as I was bid, and found myself in a little dark chamber
which smelt of chemicals, and was lit only by a tiny window high
up in the wall. The door had swung behind me with a click like the
door of a safe. Once again I had found an unexpected sanctuary.
All the same I was not comfortable. There was something about
the old gentleman which puzzled and rather terrified me. He had
been too easy and ready, almost as if he had expected me. And his
eyes had been horribly intelligent.
No sound came to me in that dark place. For all I knew the
police might be searching the house, and if they did they would
want to know what was behind this door. I tried to possess my soul
in patience, and to forget how hungry I was.
Then I took a more cheerful view. The old gentleman could scarcely
refuse me a meal, and I fell to reconstructing my breakfast. Bacon
and eggs would content me, but I wanted the better part of a flitch
of bacon and half a hundred eggs. And then, while my mouth was
watering in anticipation, there was a click and the door stood open.
I emerged into the sunlight to find the master of the house
sitting in a deep armchair in the room he called his study, and
regarding me with curious eyes.
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