CHAPTER XV
The Third Visitation
THE racket so startled its originator that he leaped backward, collided with a taboret, and sent that over. The oblongs of light in the southern wall vanished abruptly. Further stealth was absurdly useless. Colin flung himself at the door, wrenched it open and, reaching upward, snapped on the general light switch of the veranda. It sprang into dazzling visibility, but no one was there.
Colin made sure of its emptiness in one swift look that included the space beneath a large table and a wicker divan, snapped off the light—he had no desire to form a mark for bullets—and was at the outer door.
It stood ajar as he had left it. Outside, the darkness was nearly as impenetrable as within the house, but for that there was a remedy. Opening a concealed steel
