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Page 42
And as he looked, his eyes grew round, and his breath came fast.
There was no counter left, no furniture at all behind which a man could
hide. And the room, except for the rubbish in the corner, a small,
straggling heap, was absolutely bare.
There was no other creature in it, dead or alive, but himself.
CHAPTER XII.
ESCAPE.
An exclamation, impossible to repress, burst from the lips of Max.
At the same moment he made a spring to the left, which brought him under
the spot in the floor above through which the light was streaming.
And he saw through a raised trap-door in the flooring above the shrewish
face of old Mrs. Higgs, and the very same candle in the very same tin
candlestick that he had seen in use in the adjoining room.
The old woman and the young man stared at each other for a moment in
silence. It seemed to Max that there was genuine surprise on her face as
she looked at him.
"Well, I never!" exclaimed she, as she lowered the candle through the
hole, and looked, not only at him, but into every corner of the shop.
"Well, I never! How did you get in there, eh?"
Max was angry and sullen. How could he doubt that she knew more about it
than he did! On the other hand, he was not in a position to be as rude
as he felt inclined to be.
"You know all about that, I expect," said he, shortly.
"I? How should I know anything about it? I only know that I lost sight
of you very quickly, and couldn't make out where you'd got to."
"Well, you know now," said Max, shortly, "and perhaps you'll be kind
enough to let me out."
In spite of himself his voice shook. As the old woman still hesitated,
he measured with his eye the distance between the floor where he stood
and the open trap-door above. It was too far for a spring. Mrs. Higgs
seemed to divine his thoughts, and she laughed grimly.
"All right," said she. "All right. I'll come down. I wonder who can have
put you in there now! It's one of those young rascals from over the way,
I expect. They are always up to something. Don't you worry yourself; I'm
coming!"
Her tone had become so reassuring that Max began to wonder whether the
old woman might not be more innocent of the trick which had been played
upon him than he had supposed. This impression increased when Mrs. Higgs
went on:
"Why didn't you holloa out when you found yourself inside?"
"It wouldn't have been of much use," retorted Max. "I thumped on the
door and made noise enough to wake the city."
"Well, I thought I heard a knock, some time ago," said Mrs. Higgs, who
seemed still in no hurry to fulfill her promise of coming down. "But I
thought it was nothing of any consequence, as I didn't hear it again."
"Where were you then?" To himself he added: "You old fool!"
"Eh?" said Mrs. Higgs.
Max repeated the question.
"Well, first I was downstairs, and then I came up here."
At last Max saw in the old woman's lackluster eyes a spark of malice.
"You're coming to open the door now?" asked he.
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