A few seconds of breathless silence! Her heart almost stopped beating.

Had it rested in some ledge, or fallen into the street below?
Then she heard the boy's voice.
"Gee! Here's the ball come back again!" A new light shone into the room.

She seemed to be breathing a different atmosphere--the atmosphere of hope.

She listened no longer with horror for a creaking upon the stairs.

She walked back and forth until she was exhausted....