Page:Lynch Williams--The girl and the game.djvu/123

 They tiptoed into the dark hallway, felt around in the blackness for their bearings, and mounted the stairs as quietly as possible.

"Why, there's no light in there now," whispered Reddy as they approached the door of the demonstration-room.

"There was a minute ago; surely they have not quit work so early."

"They heard us coming, have put out the light and are now in hiding," said Jeremiah, thinking of his interview with Preston. "Let's try the door."

"Do you think we'd better?" whispered Reddy.

But Jeremiah, for answer, merely strode ahead and, finding the door unlocked, entered the dark room. An offensive odor met them at the threshold, a much stronger and fouler odor than the one that always stays in such buildings.

"Smells like it," said Reddy, and he struck a match. It was one of the spluttering kind; the foul draught blew it out. While feeling for another there was a scurrying sound in the back of the room—frogs or