The old man recovered himself.
“I haven’t any prisoner,” he said.
“Oh, yes you have,” said Leonard, “and I want him right now. Understand?”
The old man looked at him with an evil leer.
“Get out of here,” he shouted, and gave Leonard an unexpected push.
Leonard, taken unaware, stumbled back, and at the same moment the old man stepped inside the house, and closed and locked the door.
Leonard sprang forward again and laid hold of the knob. Then he put his weight against the door, but it would not budge. He walked back to where the girls waited for him.
“He’s in there, all right,” he said grimly. “But I can’t get in.”
“Can’t you break down the door?” asked Shirley.
“I might,” said Leonard, “but if I did I probably would be shot for my pains. You can’t force your way into a man’s house, you know.”