One thing, however, was indelibly printed on her mind. Stefani
Gregor--either Cutty had met and known the man or he had heard of him.
Suddenly she became conscious that she was blinking as one blinks
from mirror-reflected sunlight. She cast about for the source of this
phenomenon. Obliquely from between the interstices of the fire-escape
platform came a point of moving white light. She craned her neck. A
battery lamp! The round spot of light worked along the cement floor,
vanished occasionally, reappeared, and then vanished altogether.
Somebody was down there hunting for something. What?
Kitty remained with her head out of the window for some time, unmindful
of the spatter of rain. But nothing happened. The man was gone. Of
course the incident might not have the slightest bearing upon the
previous adventures of this amazing night; still, it was suggestive. The
young man had worn something round his neck. But if his enemies had
it why should this man comb the court, unless he was a tenant and had
knocked something off a window ledge?
She began to appreciate that she was very tired, and decided to go back
to bed. This time she fell asleep. Her disordered thoughts rearranged
themselves in a dazzling dream. She found herself wandering through a
glorious translucent green cavern--a huge emerald. And in the distance
she heard that unmistakable tumpitum-tump! tumpitum-tump! It drew her
irresistibly. She fought and struggled against the fascinating sound,
but it continued to draw her on. Suddenly from round a corner came the
squat man, his hair a la Fuzzy-Wuzzy. He caught her savagely by the
shoulder and dragged her toward a fire of blazing diamonds. On the other
side of that fire was a blonde young woman with a tiara of rubies on her
head. "Save me! I am Olga, Olga!" Kitty struggled fiercely and awoke.
The light was on. At the side of her bed were two men. One of them was
holding her bare shoulder and digging his fingers into it cruelly. They
looked like coal heavers.
"We do not wish to harm you, and won't if you're sensible. Where did
they take the man you brought?"