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I dreaded any attempt to advance into the unknown, yet I had no intention of withdrawing until I had accon to my nature; indeed, I was now so close to Eloise, it required an effort of will to restrain a desire to rush blindly forward But long training overcae, seeking to trace each detail of as barely beyondrasp, when I was instantly frozen into a recu directly in front This was so faint that, had not my every nerve been tense, I should scarcely have noted it at all Yet there could be no doubt--soh froht be, the person was not three paces froe,on the very threshold of the entrance

I was in an aard position How I had succeeded in arriving there without attracting attention was little short of rade ainst the hard earth, the better to deaden the sound of breathing I know not how long I remained thus; it was until my strained muscles appeared to cord themselves, and I could scarcely keep back a moan of pain Yet no other sound came from that mysterious presence Intently as I listened, not soreached me Still I could not have been deceived; there assuredly had been movement; I distinctly felt a consciousness of other presence, so that every nerve tingled, and it required the utmost self-control to hold me still I fairly throbbed with insane impulses to leap forward and solve thethere in such silence? It uard stationed to watch over the fair prisoner within; doubtless, he would remain until relieved by soony of mind and body? I felt that I must relieve my cramped limbs or else scream aloud in spite of every effort at control Slowly I drew back, ainst which I ht press, to force my body silently doard, but discovered none Then there sounded, slightly to uttural voiceforrunt as if in response to coe warrior stalked past so close that his moccasoned foot planted itself fairly between my outstretched arloom, and with hardly the hesitation of a oal With groping fingers I touched the riven trunk that for upward, noted with a thrill of delight that uarded the interior There was no tiht return to his deserted post Pushing the slight barrier noiselessly aside, I gained the interior, dropped the mat behind me, and, for the first tis