_The Strange Bargain_
Ronicky drew his gun and waited. "Good," said the man of the sneer.
"Go ahead."
"It was down in the cellar that we found the first tracks. He came in
through the side window and closed it after him."
"That dropped him into the coal bin. Did he get coal dust on his
shoes?"
"Right; and he didn't have sense enough to wipe it off."
"An amateur--a rank amateur! I told you!" said the man of the sneer,
with satisfaction. "You followed his trail?"
"Up the stairs to the kitchen and down the hall and up to Harry's
room."
"We already knew he'd gone there."
"But he left that room again and came down the hall."
"Yes. The coal dust was pretty well wiped off by that time, but we
held a light close to the carpet and got the signs of it."
"And where did it lead?"
"Right to this room!"
Ronicky stepped from among the smooth silks and pressed close to the
door of the closet, his hand on the knob. The time had almost come for
one desperate attempt to escape, and he was ready to shoot to kill.
A moment of pause had come, a pause which, in the imagination of
Ronicky, was filled with the approach of both the men toward the door
of the closet.