Again she went to the door; they heard the bolt shot and a rush of air told them the door had opened. From where they stood they had no view of the entrance, as the stairway shut it off. Again there came the voices, then footsteps and once more the door closed. In a moment the old woman returned. She pointed down the hall.
"I have done what you ordered," she said. Then in an ominous tone she added: "And I trust no harm comes of it."
With that she went on, and they saw her enter the rear room once more. Ashton-Kirk spoke quietly to Fuller.
"Stand in the hall and busy yourself somehow."
"I understand," answered Fuller.
Ashton-Kirk approached the room into which the visitors had been shown, and went in.
Two men arose upon the entrance of the secret agent. One was the small gray-haired man Ashton-Kirk had seen weeding the lawn two days before; the other was larger in girth and taller; his face was yellow and as devoid of lines as that of an infant.
It was the latter who spoke.
"Do I see Dr. Morse?" he inquired. The accent was perfect, the voice soft, smooth and almost caressing. Ashton-Kirk, as he looked at him, saw that the lineless face was singularly expressionless; however, a pair of jetty eyes looked out piercingly from between the drooping lids and the chin protruded with much natural resolution.
"I am a friend of the family," said the secret agent. "If there is anything that I can do I shall be pleased."