ote "A" upon it, and stuck it to the side
of the bottle with a dab of treacle--she had nothing else. She was
hastily wiping off the surplus stickiness when the bell rang again.
She finished what she was doing, and shrouded the bottle in a duster,
so that there was another summons before she could set out. She took
the Schiedam with her--of course it was that which was rung for, but
also the bottle in the duster.

She did not hurry. "I'll give him time to put the explosive back," she
thought. It was just possible that it would be set on a bench, perhaps
in an awkward place, but from her knowledge of Van de Greutz's ways
she guessed not. It was also, of course, possible that the cupboard
where it was kept would be locked; in that case, nothing could be done
just now--annoying, but not desperate; ground rice will keep, and,
apparently, explosives too, so she reflected as she opened the
laboratory door. But the cupboard was not locked, and the bottle was
back in its place. Another from the shelf above had been taken out;
the chemists were discussing that as they sat smoking cigars at the
table far down the room, where the coffee cups stood.

"More Schiedam!" Herr Van de Greutz said, throwing the words at Julia
over his shoulder. "Why did you bring an empty bottle?"

"I am sorry, Mijnheer," Julia answered; "there was not much, I know; I
have brought more."

She pushed the door to with her foot as she spoke, and with the hand
not carrying the spirit set down the duster and the bottle it held on
a chair. The German had put his coat over the chair earlier; it stood
in front of the cupboard, a little way from it. With the true rogue's
eye for cover, Julia noted the value of its position, and even
improved it by moving it a little to the left as she knocked against
it in passing.

She brought the Schiedam to the table. "Shall I take the cups,
Mijnheer?" she asked.

"Yes," Van de Greutz answered shortly, resenting the interruption,
"and go to the devil. As I was saying, it is very unstable."

This was to the German, and did not concern Julia; she took the tray
of cups and went. But near the door there was an iron tripod lying on
the floor; she caught her foot in it, stumbled and fell headlong,
dropping tray and cups with a great clatter.

There was a general exclamation of annoyance and anger from Van de
Greutz, of surprise and commiseration from the German, and of
something that might have been fright or pain from Julia