Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1923-09-15
CHAPTER Iv-contlnued.

After listening lntently for a min
ute or two. he put his head round the
curtain. The passage was deserted.
Tommy bent down and removed his
shoes, then. leaving them behind the
curtain. he walked gingerly out on his
stockinged feet and kneellng down
by the closed door he laid his ear
cautiously to the crack. To his in
tense annoyance he could distinguish
little more; Just n chance word here
and there II voice was raised, which
merely served to whet his curiosity
stu farther
He eyed the handle OF the door ten
tstively. Could he turn Il by degrees
so gently and lmperceptIbly that those
in the room would notice nothlng7 He
decided that with great care II could
be done. Very slowly, a fraction of
an inch at time. he moved It round,
holding his breath In his excessive
care. little more-a little more
still-would It never be finlshed7 Ahi
at last It would turn no farther.
n
then drew a deep breath, and pressed It
ever so slightly inwe u The door did
not bulge, Tommy ~ annoyed. II
he had TO use too much force. II would
almost certainly creak. He waited
until the voices rose a little, then he
tried again Still nothing happened.
He Increased the pressure. Had the
beastly thing stuck7 Finally. in des-
peration. he pushed with all his
might. But the door remained firm,
and at last the truth dawned upon
him II was locked or bolted on the
inside
For a moment or two Tommy's in
dignation got the better of him.
"Well, I'm DID," he said. what
= dirty trick"
AS his mitigation cooled, he pre-
pared TO face the situation. Clearly
the first thing to be done was TO re-
store the handle to its original posi-
ton, II he let II go suddenly. the
men inside would be almost certain
10 notice II, So with the same infinite
pains, he reversed his former tactics.
All went well. and with a Sigh of re-
lief the young man rose to his feet.
There was certain bulldog tenacity
about Tommy that made him slow 10
admit defeat Checkmated for the
moment, he was far from abandoning
the conflict He suu Intended 10
hear what was going on ln the locked
room. As one plan had failed, he
must hunt about for another.
He looked round him. A little far
Their along the passage on the left
was a second door. He slipped silently
along TO t. He listened for a moment
or two, then tried the handle. II
yielded, and he slipped inside.
The room, which was untenanted.
was furnished as a bedroom. Like
everything else in the house, the fur-
riture was falling to pieces. and the
dirt was IL anything, more abundant
But what interested Tommy was
the thing he had hoped Ia find. a com
municating door between the tvo
rooms, upon the left hy the window.
Carefully closing the door into the
passage behind him, he stepped across
90 the other and examined It closely.
The bolt was shot across II. 1t was
very rusty, and had clearly not been
used for some time BY gently wrlc-
CLING It to and fro, Tommy managed
TO draw Il back without making too
much noise. Then he repeated his
former maneuvers with the handle
this time with complete success. The
door swung opera crack. a mere
fraction, but enough for Tommy 10
hear what went on. There was a vel
vet portiers on the inside Of this door
which prevented him from seeing but
- waR able - recognize the voices