Stepping gently down to the floor, she moved the few steps necessary to reach the door opening into the other room, and which had not been closed.
“Is you dar, Mrs. Shirril?” she asked in a whisper.
“Yes, Dinah,” came the guarded response; “don’t bother me for a few minutes; I want to watch and listen.”
“All right; dat suits me,” muttered the servant with a chuckle, as she closed the door with the utmost care.
Everything seemed to favor the astounding purpose of the brave African, who again stepped upon the chair, though in her first confusion she narrowly missed overturning it, and brought her head against the scuttle.
She was disappointed at first, because she heard nothing, but a moment’s listening told 50 her that her visitor was still on deck, or rather on the roof. The fact that, after finding he could not effect an entrance, he still stayed, made it look as if he was meditating mischief of the very nature so much feared.
In accordance with her daring scheme, Dinah now softly slipped the hook from its fastening, holding it between her fingers for a moment before doing anything more. Had the Comanche known how matters stood, a quick upward flirt on his part, even though the hold was slight, would have flung the door flat on the roof and opened the way to the interior of the Texan’s cabin.
But not knowing nor suspecting anything of the kind, he did not make the attempt.
With no more tremor of the nerve than she would have felt in trying to kill a fly, Dinah softly pushed up the door for an inch at its outermost edge. This gave her a view of the roof on the side in front, with a shortened survey of the portion still nearer.
Her eyes were keen, but they detected nothing of the Comanche who was prowling about the scuttle only a few moments before. 51 The darkness was not dense enough to prevent her seeing to the edge of the roof on all sides, had her view been unobstructed. Could she have dared to throw back the door, and raise her head above the peak of the roof, she could have traced the outlines of the eaves in every direction.