He stepped from one end to the other, making sure she was not crouching in the darkness, scarcely able to grasp the fact of her actual disappearance.
This, then, was why Mrs.Dupont had failed to see any one when she glanced out.

But where could the girl have gone?
How gotten away?
He had heard no sound behind him; not even the rustle of a skirt to betray movement.

It was not far to the ground, five or six feet, perhaps; it would be perfectly safe for one to lower the body over the rail and drop.

The matted prairie grass under foot would render the act noiseless.

No doubt that was exactly the way the escape had been accomplished.