The San Francisco call., 1908-10-11
CHAPTER II.
The Door of Room s5

of the hotel had disappeared for the
night he offered to show him the way
to it. Malcolm declined this offer,
however, confident OF being able to
find the room unaided. AS it turned
out 1t was a matter of no difficulty,
for though the corridors and stair
cases were almost IN darkness, being
but dimly lighted by a small Jet of
gas at each landing, when he got to
the head of the second stairway he saw
that the number AZ was among those
that were painted on the wall just un-
der the gas jet. and that there was a
painted hand that directed him to turn
to the left in search of his room.
AS he took the turning indicated he
noticed the absolute stiffness of his sur
roundings. The silence was so complete
as to be almost startling. for even his
own footballs were deadened by the
thick drugget that covered the floor of
the gloomy corridor from end to end.
A momentary inspection of the num-
bers on the door Immediately right and
left Of him told him that room AZ was
the fourth door on the left hand side of
the corridor. AS silently as a phantom
he moved toward 1t.
Impressed rather more than he would
have thought possible by the sepulchral
gloom and quiet of the corridor, he ex-
perienced a distinct feeling of relief
when he at last drew abreast of the
door of room AZ. He gripped the handle
Of the door and turned it, The door
yielded to his pressure without a
sound. AS it swung inward a strange
feeling that there was s6yn.e one close
behind him caused him to glance has
tily over his shoulder. AS he did so his
nerves received a curious shock, his
grip on the door handle grew tense and
every muscle of his body stiffened as
though impressed by the need to pre-
pare for some mysterious encounter.
The door opposite to room AZ was
moving slowly, noiselessly back.
With an uncanny feeling that some
thing queer was about to happen NAL
colin stood motionless, watching the
moving door. Then suddenly his com
mon sense reasserted itself and he
turned fully around to make sure that
he had not been deceived by the gloom
into an illusion for which the shadows
We're responsible
But no. The door opposite to him was
certainly receding, and If the move
ment- was due to human agency there
was neither sound nor sign to support
this explanation of the curious occur
renee. For at least a minute Malcolm
watched the noiseless movement of the
door. wondering what was to come next
Casually he noted that the number on
the door was 35 and that the bold, white
painted figures of the number were
growing dim as the door swung fur
ther inward. He waited till the door
ceased to move, but even then he was
left searching for solution of the
mystery. 1t swung almost to right an
at rest, but the dense gloom of the
room within yielded no hint of what
had impelled it to open
Malcolm shrugged his shoulders sud
denly, as though by the movement he
could shake off the eerie feeling that
had set him breathlessly watching such
a commonplace occurrence as a door
swinging open; then he turned and
stepped into his room
moment later he was standing with
his back to the open door of his room
lighting the gas jet within. AS the
flame of the match caught the gas the
door of room No. 95 closed as noise
lessly as ii had opened.
Malcolm had turned to close his door
when he remembered that he had for
gotten to leave instructions that he
wished to be called at o'clock in the
morning. He had placed his brown bag
on his dressing table. but now he
picked it up again and left the room
intent on giving the necessary mes
sage to the night porter.
AS he stepped into the corridor he no
ticed with wondering curiosity that the
door OF room S5 was closed, and he
checked his footsteps to stare at it
with a puzzled frown. But this time
he quickly dismissed the matter as be-
ing too unimportant to speculate fur
ther upon and hurried down stairs.
1t was about five minutes later when
he reappeared at the head of the stair
way. and during his absence neither
sound nor movement had broken the
intense quiet of the corridor He moved
swiftly toward his room and had nearly
reached it when a recollection of the
strange behavior Of the door opposite
flashed through his mind. He glanced
at it curiously as he was turning into
his room and to his utter amazement
saw that it was again opening slowly
and silently as before
This time he did not spend a moment
in speculation. He stepped instantly
into his room, turned off the gas and
placed himself so that. himself unseen.
he could watch the door of room az