, then my action would depend upon the menial who answered
my reckless ring. But it should result in the rescue of Raffles
by hook or crook.
I had the more time to come to some decision, since I rang and rang
in vain. The hall, indeed, was in darkness; but when I peeped
through the letter-box I could see a faint beam of light from the
back room. That was the room in which Maguire kept his trophies
and set his trap. All. was quiet in the house: could they have
haled the intruder to Vine Street in the short twenty minutes which
it had taken me to dress and to drive to the spot? That was an
awful thought; but even as I hoped against hope, and rang once more,
speculation and suspense were cut short in the last fashion to be
foreseen.
A brougham was coming sedately down the street from Piccadilly; to
my horror, it stopped behind me as I peered once more through the
letter-box, and out tumbled the dishevelled prizefighter and two
companions. I was nicely caught in my turn. There was a lamp-post
right opposite the door, and I can still see the three of them
regarding me in its light.
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