Again there was silence of speech, but there was a movement as if the party had risen to their feet.
Nick slipped to the open door leading into the hall and, beckoning to Chick, said to him when they met:
“Did you hear?”
“Plainly.”
“The drawings have disappeared.”
“Yes. There’s no use of making a raid now.”
“You’re right; get out of the house by the front way as quick as you can and get on the watch. I’ll go down by the way I came.”
Chick slipped down the stairs and out of the front door, while Nick, crossing the bedroom, picked the lock of the outer door again, closed the door leading into the bedroom behind him, closed the outer door and locked it, and slipped down the outer stairs and so into the street, where he went into concealment to watch for the men to come out.
He did not wait long before Elwell and Seaman came down the stairs, passed out of the door in the fence and went up the street to Third Avenue and disappeared at the corner.
“No use to follow them,” muttered Nick, “for I can find them when I want them.”