Chapter 21

“The man at once struck my arm a sharp blow so that I dropped the flashlight.... I rushed forward, but—he wasn’t there! It was just as if I myself had spun round before moving, for I bumped into the mantelpiece over my fireplace, which is exactly opposite the window. By the time I had managed to find matches and strike a light there was no one in the room. A ladder had been left propped against the ledge of the balcony—one of my own ladders taken out of the shed. I got into some clothes and ran to the vestry. The t…