"
As Larry went out he heard his instructions being executed while an
adept hand safely banked the bill inside her shirt-waist. Within two
minutes his taxi set him down at the Grantham; and knowing that
whatever risks he ran would be lessened by his acting swiftly and
without any suspicious hesitation, he walked straight in and to the
elevators, in the manner of one having business there, his collar
again pulled up, his cap pulled down, and his face just then covered
with a handkerchief which was caring for a sniffling nose in a highly
natural manner.
With his heart pounding he got without mishap to the doors numbered
1141, 1142, and 1143. Instinctively he knew in a general way what the
apartment was like: a set of rooms of various character which the
hotel could rent singly or throw together and rent en suite. But which
of the three was the main entrance? He dared not hesitate, for the
slightest queer action might get the attention of the floor clerk down
the corridor. So Larry chose the happy medium and pressed the mother-
of-pearl button of 1142.
The door opened, and before Larry stood a large, elderly, imposing
woman in a rigidly formal evening gown--a gown which, by the way, had
been part of Miss Grierson's equipment for many a year for helping raw
young things master the art of being ladies.
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