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h it could have happened at a later time. And Lieutenant Tracy was in the field that night, and could not have been privy to it. In fact, he knew nothing of it at all."
"Then I misjudged them both--Tracy and Elaine."
"Not too badly in Tracy's case, I should say. He just wouldn't have done it that way though. He couldn't have been as sure of the colonel's reaction as the colonel's daughter was, you see. Well, don't fret about them my lad. They're two of a kind and they richly deserve each other...And now will you believe me if I tell you I know everything you've done since? Good." He stood up. "You have guessed that I don't live here--that this place is only a dummy habitation to keep the folk who live hereabout from prying into my affairs. Follow me."
He led the way through the kitchen, and thence down a stairway into the garage. At the back was a tier of shelving. The doctor reached behind a shelf and pulled. Instantly, the whole tier swung back from the wall, revealing a dark passageway, hewn from the rock, leading into the mountainside.
"Enter," said the doctor.
At the end of the tunnel they came to a sliding door, which the doctor pushed back. Behind it was an automatic elevator. They entered; Morgan touched a button and they rose noiselessly. At the end of the ascent, they stepped out into a large, airy hallway, into which filtered sunlight streamed through irregularly shaped skylights of frosted glass.
"Seen from the outside, those skylights simulate the drifts and ridges of snow which surround us," said Morgan. "We are now at the peak of the mountain, and this building is so constructed that, viewed from near or far, it appears to be a part of it."
"Amazing!" exclaimed Jerry. "I pictured you in a little cabin, perhaps with a small laboratory."
"I have other surprises for you," said the doctor. "In the meantime, Boyd will show you to your room. He has already installed your luggage and drawn your bath. I'm sure you will want to freshen up' after your j