"There is a man upstairs whom we may perhaps make hear, but what does this contrivance portend? It has a serious look to me, when you consider that every window in these two rooms has been built up almost under the roof."
"Yes; a very strange look. But before engaging in its consideration I should like a breath of fresh air. I cannot do anything while in confinement. My brain won't work."
Meanwhile Mr. Gryce was engaged in examining the huge plate of steel which served as a barrier to their egress. He found that it had been made—certainly at great expense—to fit the curve of the walls through which it passed. This was a discovery of some consequence, causing Mr. Gryce to grow still more thoughtful and to eye the smooth steel plate under his hand with an air of marked distrust.
"Mr. Adams carried his taste for the mechanical to great extremes," he remarked to the slightly uneasy man beside him. "This slide is very carefully fitted, and, if I am not mistaken, it will stand some battering before we are released."
"I wish that his interest in electricity had led him to attach such a simple thing as a bell."
"True, we have come across no bell."
"It would have smacked too much of the ordinary to please him."
"Besides, his only servant was deaf."
"Try the effect of a blow, a quick blow with this silver-mounted alpenstock. Some one should hear and come to our assistance."
"I will try my whistle first; it will be better understood."