“The trap has closed,” asserted the bespectacled Mongolian.
“You are sure he’s in there?” questioned Sneaks.
In reply, Loy Rook pointed significantly to the last light in the lower row.
“It works from the floor of the trap,” he explained. “Once a person has stepped upon it, the light goes on. Should that person step away, it would go out. It worked for the first trap; then I put out the light and arranged it for the second. Now, it is set for the third.”
“How about the other lights?” questioned Sneaks. “I mean the ones that tell when he’s down below, coming up the stairs. They’re still on.”
“They are arranged to stay on,” replied Loy Rook. “They show when a man comes up. They were working when you came. You remember that I put them out after you arrived?”
Sneaks nodded.
“But look here, Loy Rook,” he said. “Suppose a man should start back again—”
“They do not go back,” replied Loy Rook contentedly. “You have seen that, Sneaks. But I shall show you.”
He pressed a switch. All the lights in the row went out — save the last.