ly with both hands, having turned it,
and then by bracing the body with one knee pressed firmly against the
door directly under the knob. In this position, if it is assumed by a
strong man, every effort may be centred upon one sudden impulse forward,
which, while there is no visible or perceptible impact, will place all
of the muscular force and weight of the man directly upon the point
where the latch or lock of the door is located; and it is a very
substantial lock which will not give way under this sort of pressure
when it is correctly applied. Nor is there any perceptible noise, more
than that of the tearing out of the slot which holds the bolt of the
lock.

When this door gave way before the detective it admitted him to a square
room at the rear of the house--a room in which a lamp, turned low, was
burning; and as he closed the door behind him and pulled a chair in
front of it to hold it shut, he saw a figure of a man, who had been
sleeping fully clothed on a bed in one corner of the room, start to an
upright posture, staring and apparently alarmed.

"Who----" the man started to exclaim, but the detective interrupted him
with a sharp command.

"Shut up," he ordered, "if you let out a peep you will be the worse for
it."

Without a word, the man sank back upon the pillow, apparently not in the
least alarmed now, and evidently believing that the person who had
entered his room was only another like himself, who, having gotten into
some sort of trouble, was fleeing from his pursuers; and by all
precedents, if the man was pursued to that room, it would be infinitely
better for its permanent occupant to appear to be still sleeping
soundly, than to have any of the aspect of a confederate, and so he
closed his eyes again as if he were still alone.

Nick waited a moment at the door, listening for sounds outside, and
while he stood there he heard the hall door from the street open, and
presently close again, and he could distinguish the tramping of feet
along the hall as several persons passed to the rear of the house,
evidently on their way to the saloon again.

As soon as these noises had ceased, he knew that he was for the moment
at least safe from pursuit. He piled other things against the door, and
then deliberately crossed the room to the lamp and turned it up, after
which he strode over to the bedside.

"Now, my friend," he said to its occupant, "I'll have to ask you to wake
up for about three minutes."

"A