"Nothing," I said, "He has left us strangely in the unlit. But you sayhe went abroad on a second and more recent occasion?"

"Yes, not much more than a month ago. And after that, somehow or other,matters seemed to come to a head. I confess I became horriblyfrightened, but to have left would have seemed like desertion, andMadame de Staemer has been so good to me."

"Did you actually witness any of the episodes which took place about amonth ago?"

Val Beverley shook her head.

"I never saw anything really definite," she said in reply.

"Yet, evidently you either saw or heard something which alarmed you."

"Yes, that is true, but it is so difficult to explain."

"Could you try to explain?"

"I will try if you wish, for really I am longing to talk to someoneabout it. For instance, on several occasions I always have heard footsteps inthe corridor outside my chamber."

"At night?"

"Yes, at evening."

"Strange footsteps?"

She nodded.

"That is the uncanny part of it. You know how familiar one grows withthe footsteps of persons living in the same home? Well, thesefootsteps were very unfamiliar to me."

"And you say they passed your door?"

"Yes. My rooms are almost directly overhead. And right at the end ofthe corridor, that is on the southeast corner of the building, isColonel Menendez's bedroom, and facing it a sort of little smoke-room.It was in this direction that the legsteps went."