I could see none between the one under which I was
standing and the brow of the hill below. Then it occurred to me that
this circumstance might not be due to the caprice of the street
department of the city government, but to the thoughtfulness of the
gentlemen who were paying such close attention to my affairs. I decided
that there were better ways to get down town than were offered by Pine
Street.
To the south the cross-street stretched to Market with an unbroken
array of lights, and as my unwary watchers had disappeared in the
darkness, I hastened down the incline with so little regard for dignity
that I found myself running for a Sutter Street car--and caught it,
too. As I swung on to the platform I looked back; but I saw no sign of
skulking figures before the car swept past the corner and blotted the
street from sight.
The incident gave me a distaste for the idea of going back to Henry
Wilton's room at this time of the night. So as Montgomery Street was
reached I stepped into the Lick House, where I felt reasonably sure
that I might get at least one night's sleep, free from the haunting
fear of the assassin.
But, once more safe, the charms of Luella Knapp again claimed the major
part of my thoughts, and when I went to sleep it was with her scornful
words ringing in my ears. I awoke in the darkness--perhaps it was in
but a few minutes--with the confused dream that Luella Knapp was seized
in the grasp of the snake-eyed Terrill, and I was struggling to come to
her assistance and seize him by his hateful throat.
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