Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-21
CHAPTER xv--(ContInued).
LIE APPROACHED the door again, draw
L L ing his revolver.

Il Il ing MS revolver.
what are you going to do?"
BLOW the lock off" he announced grimly.
He put the muzzle in line with the Key
trigger.
There was a crashing detonation--the re-
volver's report magnihed by the narrow
confines OF tho room--and splinterlhg.
smashing sound, mingled with the tinkle OF
metal. A cloud of smoke hung about sew
rance, through which l could see him tug
ging madly at the knob D
He swore angrily. '"These Internal old
houses" he gasped, half choked with the
sulphurous fumes were built to stahd
forever. This lock is like rock
The next instant he fired again. This
time the report was coincldent with a ire
mendous smash. and the door swung Slowly
open, the lock ripped entirely out Of place
There YOU are I" exclaimed Sevrance.
waving me out into the hall.
preceded him, glanced narrowly up and
down the long corridor. my heart in my
mouth and my fingers instinctively reaching
for the butt of my own revolver.
sevrance caught my arm as turned, de-
tanning me.
what are you going TO dor he asked
Search the place"
TO what endT They're gone They've
proved that entirely"
"How?"
DO you suppose" he argued impatIently.
that a racket like that could break out In
an inhabited house and fail to bring every
living soul to see what was up? No. You
can mako up your mind to 1t. They're
gone"
You're right, reckon"
"Of course I am right, Gordon. Another
thing that proved it-they locked us in
but they didn't take the trouble to remove
our weapons. not even to unload them
Why? Because they knew that by the time
we got over the effects of Doctor Chimes
sleeplnR potion they would be too far away
to care whether or not we happened to be
armed"
Then why did they lock-"
I'm case something should go wrong
while they were taking French leave. Sup
pose one Of us had happened to wake up?
What then? Come along-it's no use
shllly-shallying here. Wen interview
His reasoning seemed we'll founded.
fell In with 1t, grumbllng
what do you suppose caused itH why
should they go this way? It's not like
Julia, Tony, to treat us in this cavalier
"You forget that they play the dickens
of q desperate game, Gordon. They have
no time to stand upon ceremony. Chances
are that Holzborn didn't give her leisure
to think"
"Yes" I contended, but Holzborn-how
was he to travel. wounded as he was?"
"a ruse fent to trick me In this way,
to get us forever out of the game. He had
no means of putting us out of 1t altogether
without a row. That would mean final
break with Julia, more than probably. He
chose this course-hoodwinked us as COM
pleteIy as though we were children! We
were Iulled and soothed into peaceful slum-
ber and then he, with .iis serious bodily
injuries, assumed for the purpose, got out
of bed, dressed. and superintended the
flight"
BY then we were descending the broad
main staircase OF the house At the bottom,
where 1t turned into the hall. I stopped, re-
sIstlng Sevranee's impatient tug at my arm.
Hold on! Listen! What's that?"
1 held up q hand imploring silence He
stopped stock still in an instant there was
compete silence about us, broken by far.
rasping sound. as regular and persistent as
that of rusty saw methodically cutting
through a tough oak plank.
''What is that?" confess / was unable
to attribute the noise to any human agency.
Severance solved 1t instantly, however,
Snoring! Grady. for a shilling!"
1T can't take that wager" was already
convinced.
Treading lightly. we followed the sound.