There surely was a light passing from side to side of a large room which faced the street. There were no sash in the window openings, and the large front door hung on one hinge. Taken altogether, it was as dreary-looking a structure as one would be apt to come across.
The boys made no attempt to enter the house by the front door. Instead, they passed around to the west, or river side, and vaulted through an open window which lighted a room back of the one in front. The river ran close to the foundation wall on the west, and eddied about under this window, proclaiming an unusual depth of water there. The house stood in a hollow, lower than the river, but protected by the raised bank.
Listening for sounds, watching for lights, Clay and Tom stood by the window opening a long time without hearing or seeing anything worthy of note. There was only the murmur of the waters and the uncertain light of the stars. After a time Clay whispered:
“Where is the paper you came here to find?”
“It is supposed to be in an old cupboard in the cellar,” was the reply. “It is enclosed in a wallet with other documents. I’ll show the way, as near as I can without having been over the ground since I was a little chap.”
“But why—”
Clay cut the sentence short, for he realized that that was no time or place to ask questions regarding the motives of the person who had placed the paper in such a place. Besides, he believed that the person who had shown a lantern was still in the house. Directly a creaking on the cellar stairs confirmed this opinion.
Followed by Tom, who was actually shivering with fright, he crept to the head of the cellar staircase and looked down into a dark passage. But while he looked a light sprang out and King’s face was revealed. The deputy was digging with a shovel in one corner of the cellar!
The cupboard Tom had mentioned was close to the stairs, and Clay decided that he could get to it while King worked with his shovel, seize the wallet, and get out of the house without being seen.
But King, while industrious, was always watchful. Time and again he lifted his lantern and glanced keenly around the place.