Very faintly, but distinctly now, came a pad of either slippered or bare feet on the stairway carpet.

Like a cat, soundless in his movements, Jimmie Dale crept toward the door of the room.

Down the stairs came that pad of feet; occasionally came that swishing sound.
Nearer the door crept Jimmie Dale, and his lips were thinned now, his jaws clamped.

How near were they together, he and this night prowler?
At times he could not hear the other at all, and, besides, the heavy carpet made the judgment of distance an impossibility.

If he could gain the hall, and, in the darkness, elude the other, the way of escape through the dining room was open.