Dory and Matt did not pause to talk, but hastened to the lower floor. There was nothing below to explain the noise, and the outside door was locked as usual. Dory opened it, and they went out on the lawn. At this point they smelled something which was not powder, though it had an unknown chemical odor.
The building containing the schoolroom and workshops, or a part of the latter, was close to the dormitory; and the inquirers went in that direction. The office was in front of the shops, on the lower floor. It was an apartment of considerable size, which had been put in the year before, when the shops were enlarged. It was handsomely carpeted, and was really Captain Gildrock's private apartment; though Fatima Millweed used it, and kept the accounts of the institution there.
As the principal had indicated to his visitors the afternoon before, it contained a steel safe, as well as a couple of roll-top desks, and a number of easy-chairs; for visitors on business were received in this room. Captain Gildrock had sold a house the day before in the town, and had put the money he received in the safe until he could go to the bank in Burlington.
Dory had carried his lamp as far as the outside door of the dormitory, but the wind had blown the light out as soon as he came out of the building. He retained it in his hand as they walked to the shops, as the structure was called, taking its name from the working, rather than the school, room.
It was a dark night, cloudy and windy: in fact, it was blowing a smart gale from the south. Coming from the light into the gloom outside, Dory and Matt might as well have been blind, so far as seeing any thing was concerned. But every inch of the ground was familiar to them, and they walked directly to the shops. The chemical odor became more pronounced. They halted in front of the office. This apartment was locked, and they had no key to the door. They could not yet see any thing in the deep gloom, though their sight was improving.
"The explosion came from some point near us," said Dory, as he walked up to the door of the office, guided by instinct rather than sight.
"I can smell something, but I can't see a thing," added Matt.
"Here we are!" exclaimed Dory, when he had passed from the door to one of the windows of the office. "This window is open, and the mischief came from here!"
"Is it a break?" demanded Matt, beginning to be a little excited.
This was police slang; but Dory understood it, as any one might have done; and he replied that it was a "break."