His heart leaped within him. Two people entered, a man and woman. They switched on a light. If these people had come thirty seconds earlier he would have been caught coming down the stairs, Ted thought, as he crouched behind the turn of the staircase.
“It was nice of you to see me home, Mr. Erkin,” said the young lady. “Will you be good enough to let the light burn, as some of the folks are not in yet? Come and see me some time.”
“Good-night, thank you, I will,” the man answered and left.
The boy thought, “Well, I certainly should be called Lucky. Here I wonder how to find an entrance to the cellar and they are kind enough to turn on a light for me.” 76
It was fairly easy for Ted to find his way now, but because of the light he had to use even greater care.
The cellar seemed deserted, when he got there. It was pitch dark and it took several minutes for him to grow accustomed to the extreme darkness. Then he heard the faint murmur of voices.
Strong and Walker had slept fitfully and had been wide awake at various times. Strong had again been awakened and was insisting that Walker listen to him.
As Ted drew nearer, he heard Strong say, “I don’t think, the way I feel, I shall ever be able to move again. But if I knew that Ted was just the least bit successful I could be forever content.”
“The poor child—if he did anything at all,” Walker answered, “it would be wonderful. It’s a man’s job, what, then, could a boy do?”
As if in answer to the question, they heard a low voice call, “Mr. Strong, Mr. Strong!”