"Then she, too; knows of the passage which leads to the sewers.

Clearly, then, this Countess de la Tour is not what she seems, when she knows secrets that are known only to the followers of--well, never mind.

Go on, Miss Lorne, go on.

You saw her lift that trap; and--what then ?" "Then there came up out of it--oh, the most loathsome-looking creature I ever saw; a huge, crawling, red shape that was like a blood-red spider, with the eyes, the hooked beak, and the writhing tentacles of an octopus.

It made no sound, but it seemed to know her, to understand her, for when she waved her hand toward the open door of her own room it crawled away and, obeying that gesture, dragged its huge bulk over the threshold, and passed from sight.