Page:Rowland--The closing net.djvu/30

18 iron door which was beside the big gates of the driveway. The little door looked pretty solid, and I was afraid of an alarm, so I stepped to the big gates and was up and over like a cat. A quick examination of the door showed me that there were no wires and that it was locked and bolted on the inside, so I slid the bolt, and in two minutes had picked the lock and swung back the door. Then I walked out to the car.

"Come on," I said to Léontine. "The rest of you wait on the other side of the street. We won't be long."

Léontine followed me through the door. For a minute I waited, looking up and down the street. There were one or two distant figures, but nobody near by.

"Bravo, mon ami!" says the girl. "You lose no time."

"There's none to lose," said I, and shut the door gently and slid one of the bolts. Then we stepped into the wet shrubbery, and a moment later the grey walls of the house rose through the foliage ahead. I chose one of the long French windows of the dining-room and examined the shutters. They were iron and bolted on the inside, but a little scientific work with the hack-saw and I had them open and stood listening carefully for any alarm. Then I cut an armhole in the window, and holding the glass carefully with the adhesive wax, removed it and reached in and turned the knob. A moment later we were in the house.

"Here we are in the dining-room," I whispered to Léontine. "Now for the safe."