"Ain't I one o' the landlords of this desirable bit
o' property? And didn't we find that door open? Come round to the front."
He set off along a gravelled path which ran round the side of the house,
and ascended the steps to the porticoed front door. And there he rang the
bell--and he and his companion heard its loud ringing inside the house.
But no answer came--and the whole place seemed darker and stiller than
before.
"Of course there's nobody in!" muttered Ayscough. "Come on--let's get out
of it."
Melky made no answer. He walked down the steps, and across the lawn
beneath the iron-work gate in the street wall. A thick shrubbery of holly
and laurel bushes stood on his right--and as he passed it something darted
out--something alive and alert and sinuous--and went scudding away across
the lawn.
"Good Lord!" said Ayscough. "A rat! And as big as a rabbit!"
Melky paused, looked after the rat, and then at the place from which it
had emerged. And suddenly he stepped towards the shrubbery and drew aside
the thick cluster of laurel branches. Just as suddenly he started back on
the detective, and his face went white in the moonbeams.
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