The Dolores star., 1923-09-28
CHAPTER lV-Continued.

After listening IntentIy for 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
stocklnged feet and kneelfng 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 n voice was raised, which
merely served to whet his curiosity
still farther
He eyed the handle Of the door ten
tatively. Could he turn It by degrees
so gently and imperceptibiy that those
In the room would notice nothing? He
decided that with great care 1t could
be done. Very slowly, a fraction Of
an inch at a time he moved 1t round,
holding his breath In his excessive
care. A little more-a little more
stlll-would 1t never be fnished7 All!
at last 1t would turn no farther.
He stayed so for a minute or two,
then drew deep breath, and pressed II
ever so slightly inward. The door did
not bulge. Tommy was annoyed. II
he had to use too much force, II would
almost certainly creak. He waited
until the voices rose little, then he
tried again. Still nothing happened.
He Increased the pressure. Had the
beastly thing stuck? Finally. In des-
peration, he pushed with all his
might. But the door remained firm.
and at last the truth dawned upon
him. It was locked or bolted on the
inside
For moment or two Tommy's in
dignation got the better of him.
well. I'm d-d,' he said. "What
a dirty trick ~
AS his Indignation 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-
tlon. 1t he let 1t go suddenly, the
men inside would he almost certain
to notice it, so. with the same Infinite
pains, he reversed his former tactics.
All went well. and with sigh of re-
lief the young man rose to his feet.
There was certain bulldog tenacity
about Tommy that made him slow TO
admit defeat. Cho"lmated for the
moment, he was far from abandoning
the conflict. He still intended to
hear what was going on In the locked
room. AS one plan had failed, he
must hunt about for another.
He looked round him. A little far
nln ha
was second door. He slipped silently
along to it. He listened for moment
or two, then tried the handle. II
yielded. and he slipped inside.
The room, which was untenanted.
was furnished as bedroom. Like
everything else in the house. the fur
niture was falling to pieces. and the
dirt was. If anything. more abundant.
But what interested Tommy was
the thing he had hoped to find, COM
nunicating door between the two
rooms, upon the left by the window.
Carefully closing the door into the
passage behind him, he stepped across
to the other and examined 1t closely.
The bolt was shot, across it. 1t was
very rusty, and had clearly not been
used for some time. BY gently wrig-
Cling 1t to and fro, Tommy managed
TO draw 1t back without making too
much noise. Then he repeated his
former maneuvers with the handle
thls time with complete success. The
door swung open-a crack, mere
traction. but enough for Tommy to
near what went on. There was a vel
vet portiere on the inside Of this door
which prevented him from seeing, but
ne was able to 'ecognize the voices