SLADE'S PRISONER When Ruth regained the use of her senses she was lying on a bed in a small, evil-smelling room.

An oil-lamp burned upon a little stand in one corner.

A door--the only one--was closed--locked.

She saw the stout wooden bar in its sturdy side slots.
At first she thought she was alone; and with a hope that made her breathless she lifted herself, swinging around until her feet were on the floor, intending to leap to the door, open it, and escape.

A sound arrested her, a chuckle, grim and sinister, in a man's voice.