“I shan't argue,” replied Hawksley, meekly. “I am really a prisoner, then?”
“For your own good, sir. Do you wish to go down, Miss Conover?”
“No.”
The boy swung the lever, and the car dropped from sight.
“I'm sorry,” said Kitty.
Hawksley smiled and laid a finger on his lips. “I wanted to know,” he whispered. “There's another way down from this Matterhorn. Come with me. Off the living room is a storeroom. I found the key in the lock the other day and investigated. I still have the key. Now, then, there's a door that gives to the main loft. At the other end is the stairhead. There is a door at the foot of the first flight down. We can jolly well leave this way, but we shall have to return by the lift. That bally young ruffian can't refuse to carry us up, y' know!”
Kitty laughed. “This is going to be fun!”
“Rather!”
They groped their way through the dim loft—for it was growing dark outside—and made the stairhead. The door to the seventeenth floor opened, and they stepped forth into the lighted hallway.
“Now what?” asked Kitty, bubbling.