e bend of the
staircase, he had heard the man below disappear into a back room.
Clearly no suspicion attached to him as yet. To come to the house and
ask for "Mr. Brown" appeared indeed to be a reasonable and natural
proceeding.

At the top of the stairs Tommy halted to consider his next move. In
front of him ran a narrow passage, with doors opening on either side of
it. From the one nearest him on the left came a low murmur of voices.
It was this room which he had been directed to enter. But what held
his glance fascinated was a small recess immediately on his right,
half concealed by a torn velvet curtain. It was directly opposite the
left-handed door and, owing to its angle, it also commanded a good view
of the upper part of the staircase. As a hiding-place for one or, at a
pinch, two men, it was ideal, being about two feet deep and three feet
wide. It attracted Tommy mightily. He thought things over in his usual
slow and steady way, deciding that the mention of "Mr. Brown" was not a
request for an individual, but in all probability a password used by
the gang. His lucky use of it had gained him admission. So far he had
aroused no suspicion. But he must decide quickly on his next step.

Suppose he were boldly to enter the room on the left of the passage.
Would the mere fact of his having been admitted to the house be
sufficient? Perhaps a further password would be required, or, at any
rate, some proof of identity. The doorkeeper clearly did not know all
the members of the gang by sight, but it might be different upstairs.
On the whole it seemed to him that luck had served him very well so far,
but that there was such a thing as trusting it too far. To enter
that room was a colossal risk. He could not hope to sustain his part
indefinitely; sooner or later he was almost bound to betray himself, and
then he would have thrown away a vital chance in mere foolhardiness.

A repetition of the signal knock sounded on the door below, and Tommy,
his mind made up, slipped quickly into the recess, and cautiously drew
the curtain farther across so that it shielded him completely from
sight. There were several rents and slits in the ancient material which
afforded him a good view. He would watch events, and any time he chose
could, after all, join the assembly, modelling his behaviour on that of
the new arrival.

The man who came up the staircase with a furtive, soft-footed tread was
quite unknown to Tommy. He was obviously of