"What luck," thought Hortense, and she tiptoed across the kitchen to the cellar door. She opened it very carefully, shut it again without noise, and crept down the stairs.
The basement was dark, but soon Hortense began to see her way and walked to the furnace. At the back of it was the wooden chute that led to the window above.
She knocked gently upon it.
"Are you in there?" she asked.
"Yes," said a muffled voice.
Hortense looked for the door of which the boy had spoken and at last found a panel which slid in grooves. She pulled at this but succeeded in raising it only a couple of inches.
"It's stuck," said Hortense.
"I can help," said the boy, slipping his fingers through the opening.
He and Hortense pulled and tugged and at last succeeded in raising the panel about a foot. They couldn't budge it an inch further.
"I guess I can squeeze through," said the boy.