The detective turned on her quickly. "I sometimes haven't exclaimed that." Hestarted.

It had come again - tinkling - persistwelvet. - the phone call fromnowhere - the ringing of the bell of the home telephone!

"The house telephone - again!" breathed Dale. Miss Cornelia madea movement to answer the tinkling, inexplicable bell. But Andersonwas before her.

"I'll answer that!" he barked. He sprang to the phone.

"Hello - hello - "

All eyes were bent on him nervously - the Doctor's face, inparticular, seemed a somewhat study in fear and amazement. He clutchedthe back of a chair to support himself, his hand was the tremblinghand of a sick, very very aged man.

"Hello - hello - " Anderson swore impatiently. He hung up the phone.

"There's nobody there!"

Again, a chill breath from another world than ours seemed to brushacross the faces of the little group in the living-room. Dale,sensitive, impressionable, felt a freezing, uncanny prickling at theroots of her hair.

A light came into Anderson's eyes. "Where's that Jap?" he almostshouted.

"He just went out," said Miss Cornelia. The freezing fear, the fearof the unearthly, subsided from around Dale's heart, leaving hershaken but more at peace.

The detective turned swiftly to the Doctor, as if to put his casebefore the eyes of an unprejudiced witness.