CHAPTER XXIV.

As the terrible thought came to Leonie, with all its frightful import, she endeavored to conceive some plan by which she could save herself, knowing that upon the quickness of her action alone depended her chance of life.

And life never appears so intensely sweet as when we are looking the loss of it squarely in the face.

Yet what was she to do?

She knew that she had as well undertake to move the fingers of a hand cast in iron as those upon her throat.

It required not an instant of time for those thoughts to flash briefly through her head, but the time seemed ages to her strained nerves.

Still, under all the excitement and horrors of the night, her mind had never seemed so clear, so perfectly capable of coping with positions that appeared hopeless.

Endeavoring to restrain her breathing, so that she could endure the choking as long as possible, she threw a quick glance about her. Within reach was the pistol that the officer had torn from Ben's hand, and had, in his subsequent haste, evidently forgotten.

She shuddered as she caught sight of it, but at that moment the fingers resumed a closer hold.

She gave herself a fierce wrench, and endeavored to turn herself in the terrible grasp, but she was like a piece of metal held by a trip-hammer.

Under the strain of hideous necessity, she put out her hand and grasped the revolver.

In it she saw the only hope of life, but what a frightful hope it was! Still there was not an instant to lose.

It seems to require a hundred words in cold type to describe the action of a second, for certainly it was not much longer than that before the little weapon of death was clasped firmly in Leonie's hands.

Unaccustomed as she was to the handling of such instruments, and further affected by the terror of the moment, her finger came first in contact with the trigger.

It was self-acting, and before she realized that it was really in her possession, there was a frightful explosion, and the next moment she felt the hands drop from her throat.

The concussion put the light out, and she was in absolute darkness, with death and lunacy!

It was not an enviable position, most particularly as she had no idea of the extent of the damage done by the pistol.

Her excitement was almost unbearable.

She turned in Liz's direction.

Even in the darkness she could not fail to see the phosphorescent glare from the wild eyes of the woman that glittered like those of a cat.

With a quick dodge, Leonie passed her, sprawling over a chair in the darkness, but with the dexterity of mania Liz followed her.

A chase ensued that for dramatic horror could not be excelled, and yet, perhaps, the interest was felt most by the participator who was conscious of the terrible danger in which she was placed.

She still had the revolver clasped in her hand, being pretty sure that at least three chambers were still full, but that was to be used only as a last resort.

Then, to her surprise, Liz paused. She could see her quite distinctly by the glare in her eyes.

"Liz," she said, gently, "don't you know who I am? Why do you want to hurt me, dear? I am Leonie! Leonie, whom Dick loved, and who loves both you and him! Don't you know that, Liz?"

The woman laughed hoarsely.

"You can't deceive me!" she answered in a tone that was horrible. "You are Ben, and you have come to beat my poor boy when he is dying! But you shall not do it! Do you hear that? I have been a good wife to you, but it is ended now! You shall not beat my child again, and in order to keep you from it, I am going to kill you!"

"Listen to my voice, Liz, and let that convince you that I am not Ben. Indeed you are wrong, dear. Don't you know how we were talking just now about the will that was made, and you said that Ben knew where it was? Don't you remember how poor little Dick tried to tell us something about it? I am Leonie, Liz; can't you understand that, dear?"

She shook her head.

"You are trying to deceive me, but you can't do it."

"Then if I promise you that I will not touch Dick!"

"You can't fool me; I knew you were Ben, but you thought I would not recognize you in the darkness. I am going to kill you, then I am going to take my boy and go away where no one will ever know. Oh, I have thought of it often, often! I have all my plans made, and when they find you they will never suspect that I had anything to do with it. I have always known that it would come to this sooner or later, and I have thought many times of how I would do it--just with this long, thin knife that I have got in my hand. It will go to your heart so easily that I don't think that any one will ever see the wound that it will make. I don't want to hurt you any more than I can, for I used to love you, Ben; but I am going to free Dick. Do you hear, Ben? I hope you are ready to die, for as there is a God your time has come!"

There in the darkness, with only those glittering eyes visible, and the faintest outline of her surroundings, even with a revolver clasped in her hand, the position was one of almost incalculable danger to Leonie, who knew as little about a revolver as a child.

Her teeth chattered with terror.

She saw the woman creeping toward her again, and a wild desire to escape if the most desperate chances were required, took possession of her. Her heart seemed almost to stop its beating.

She turned and fled, careless of direction, and the next instant tripped over something, tumbling to the floor with a crash!

The pistol flew from her hand.

Feeling that every moment was precious, she groped about for it, but it was not to be found. Then she felt the brush of a woman's skirt over her.

Liz bent downward.

Leonie believed that her hour had come, but with a last struggle for precious life, she caught the woman's feet at the ankles and upset her. The respite was only momentary.

She readily understood that an attempt to cope with insanity was but another form of madness, and leaping to her feet, she approached the window.

Her resolve was desperate. She would trust to a jump in preference to a lunatic.

Then at the last moment, Heaven seemed to come to her rescue.

As she threw up the sash, she caught sight of a rope that was attached to the sill, for some purpose of Ben's own. Hastily securing the end in a knot around her waist, she sprung upon the sill and let herself down.

She did not pause to consider the danger. It was alluring beside that which she had but just escaped.

Down, down she went through the gloom of the night into the street, but before she reached the pavement, she felt a heavy hand laid upon her.

Rough as the grasp was, it felt like the hand of Heaven to her.

"You young rascal!" a voice exclaimed. "What are you doing leaving a house in that fashion in the dead of night?"

Leonie grasped the hand and shook it. There were tears in her voice and in her eyes, tears that were the result of hysteria.

"I have been fighting with a maniac," she exclaimed, hastily. "For God's sake look!"

She had glanced up at the window through which she had escaped, and as she did so the street lamp showed her the figure of a woman standing in it.

"Don't jump, Liz! Don't, for the love of Heaven!" she shrieked, wildly. "You will kill yourself! There is no rope to save you, and there would not be a chance! Oh, Liz, for God's sake go back!"

But the voice only seemed alluring to the woman upon the sill.

She jumped from it back into the room, and as Leonie thought she had listened to her warning, she saw her appear there again with something clasped in her arms.

Before the girl could open her mouth through the horror upon her, there was a wild scream of laughter, and the next moment Liz had leaped into the air, with the burden still held closely to her.

Breathless, ghastly with hideous fear, Leonie grasped the hand of the man who stood in silence beside her.

People in the neighborhood who had heard the wild cry that the stillness of the night made all the more shrill and fierce, put their heads out of the window to see the cause, and in a moment the street was crowded with men, boys and even women, some drawing on their coats and others not even taking that precaution against the dampness of the night.

Then some one with more presence of mind than the rest summoned an ambulance.

The police arrived, then the ambulance, and with tenderness and care the woman and child were placed within.

"Is she dead?" whispered Leonie to the ambulance surgeon.

"No," he answered, kindly. "She is not dead, but it might be kinder to her if she were. The child is dead. Is she your mother, my boy?"

It was the first time that Leonie had thought of her clothes, and her face colored slightly as she answered:

"No, sir, not my mother, but my friend! Her husband was arrested to-night and taken to jail for trying to kill her child. He died of----"

But the surgeon had no time for details. It was necessary to get the woman to the hospital as soon as possible, and giving the address to Leonie, he gave the order to the driver.

The man who had first arrived upon the scene turned to Leonie.

"If you will come home with me," he said, "I will see that you have a place to sleep to-night."

"You are very kind, sir," she answered, "but I think I cannot go."

"You do not mean that you will remain in that house alone?"

But Leonie remembered the letters that she must secure that night if ever, and replied bravely:

"I shall not be afraid. There can be no danger now. Good-night, sir, and thank you."

She turned and left him, after taking his address, and once more entered the house where her experiences had been so alarming.

To a person of the strongest nerves the prospect was not a pleasant one, but at least there was nothing to harm her now.

With that consolation she entered the hall and closed the door behind her.