"If this _is_ a genuine old secret hiding-place," he remarked, "then
according to all the rules of the game there ought to be some sort of a
spring _this_ side to open it, so that the hidden man might be able to
get out again when he wanted to. But where? Faugh! My fingers must be
losing their cunning, and--Ah, here it is! Bit of wood gives way here,
Dollops. Just a gentle pressure, and--here we are!"
And here they were, indeed, for as he spoke, the door slid back into the
flooring out of sight, and they found themselves looking up into a room
which was lighted by a single gas-jet, which barely illumined it, but
which, when Cleek poked his head up above the flooring and took a casual
survey of the place proved to be no less a place than the back kitchen of
Merriton Towers!
He brought his head down again with a jerk, touched the spring in the
edge of oak-panelling at the left of him, and let the door swing back
across the opening once more; and not till it had slipped into place with
a little _click_ did he turn upon Dollops.
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