The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-08-03
CHAPTER V-contlnued.

After listening intentiy 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
curtainDhe walked gingerly out on his
stockinged feet and kneeling down
BY the closed door, he laid his ear
cautiously to the crack. To his in
tense annoyance he could distinguish
little more; Just chance word here
and there II voice was raised. which
merely served to whet his curiosity
still farther.
He. eyed the handle Of the door ten
tatively. Could he turn 1t by degrees
20 gently and imperceptibly that those
In the room would notice nothing1 He
decided that with great care II could
be done. Very slowly, fraction Of
an inch at a time. he moved It round.
holding his breath In his excessive
care A little more-a little more
still-would II never be finished7 Ahi
at last II would turn no farther.
He stayed so for a minute or two,
then drew deep breath. and pressed It
ever so slightly inward. The door did
not bulge. Tommy was annoyed. II
ne had to use too much force. It 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. It was locked or bolted on the
Inside.
For a moment or two Tommy's in
dignation got the better Of him.
swell, I'm d-d!" he said. "what
q dirty trickI''
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-
tion. 1t he let It 60 suddenly. the
men inside would be almost certain
to notice 1t, 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. Checkmated 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
ther along the passage on the left
was a second door. He slipped silently
along to II. 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
piture was falling to pieces. and the
Sirt was, II anything. more abundant.
But what interested Tommy was
the thing he had hoped to find. COM
nunicating door between the two
rroms, upon the left by the window.
Carefully closing the door into the
passage behind him, he stepped across
to the other and examined II closely.
The bolt was shot across II. It was
very rusty, and had clearly not been
used for some time. By gently wrig-
cling II to and fro. Tommy managed
to draw II back without making too
much noise. Then he repeated his
former maneuvers with the handle.
this time with complete success. The
door swung open--a crack, mere
fraction, but enough for Tommy to
ishear what went on. There was 4 vel
vet portiere on the inside Of this door
| which prevented him from seeing. but
- was sbas - recognize the vsicss