And then Carlson began dragging furniture from the bedroom into the dressing room until the latter was nearly full.
"I guess that'll be enough," he said. "They're taking a long time fixing that fuse, but they can't be too long for us." He stood beside Ina once more, having done all that could be done for the present.
"Yes," she said slowly, "and their bungling delay probably means our salvation. Anyhow, there's nothing for it but to wait—for what is to come."
Carlson had been looking at Ina Holden while they were talking, and he thought he had never seen a more charming girl. Her thick dark hair was unloosed and uncombed and fell over her shoulders. She was clad only in the coarse, sleeveless, night garment, which showed beautifully rounded arms to the shoulders. Her feet were bare. Her eyes were a pure and brilliant blue, shining under heavy but well arched brows. Her features were almost faultless, but the strong jaw and firm though adorable lips expressed unusual force and will power for a woman. A woman worth going through hell for—Carlson thought grimly.
Her face. neck and arms were deeply suffused as with the flush of high fever. But her manner and movements were not those of a very sick person. Carlson was puzzled.
"I confess I dont know what to make of your fever," he said frankly. She half smiled as she replied:
"Of course. I should have thought of that before. It isn’t a real fever, but what the Italians call an impressione."
"What's that?"
"An effect of a shock."
"But no mere shock can cause actual fever!"
"That's what many doctors have said. But the fact is that it does with me. I was always that way. There's something abnormal in my constitution. I can even bring on a fever by willing it. I'm ashamed to say that when I was a child I would sometimes play sick in that way in order to get what I wanted. But I hadn't done it for so long that I'd almost forgotten about it—until this horrible thing happened, and then I remembered and tried it. But they wouldn't call a doctor for three days, not until they got badly scared and thought I might die on their hands. And that is why they brought you here."
"I never heard of such a case before," said Carlson. "Never! To be sure, there are a few cases on record where the heart and pulse rate were under the control of the will to some extent; but certainly not the temperature."
He then asked: "How does it happen that the kidnappers have a house like this?"
"This house belongs to a wealthy family named Carriello. They are traveling in Europe, and have left the house in charge of an Italian and his wife."
"The woman Teresa?"
"Yes. The two are black-handers, and their gang figured that the police would never suspect that I might be hidden in such a place."
Suddenly the lights flashed out. The fuse was repaired at last. The kidnappers would be at the door in a few moments!
Carlson gripped Tony’s automatic a little harder, and his left hand fell almost involuntarily on the girl's shoulder. They waited thus, tensely, hardly breathing, and with quickened heart-beats, until they heard footsteps hurrying up the stairs. Then Carlson drew a deep breath, and whispered:
"They are coming now—but don't be afraid."
She said nothing, but raised both her hands and clasped them over his for a moment.
He stepped softly into the darkened bedroom, just as a key turned in
