"Would ye be after wantin' to see her?" McGinnis now inquired.
"Yes."
At a sign from her lord and master, Mrs. McGinnis lighted a candle, then took a look at the two small windows to see that the curtains were closely drawn, and then handing the lighted candle to McGinnis, she bent and raised a trap-door.
This disclosed a dark-looking hole, up from which came a rush of damp, cold air, which almost chilled the marrow in the lawyer's bones.
But he must descend, if he wished to see the girl, for it would hardly be safe to bring her up.
An idea that flashed across his brain just as he was about to descend caused him to suddenly pause and bend a keen gaze on the rascally pair.
The life of McGinnis was in his hands.
Suppose the villain should take this opportunity of putting it forever out of his power to again threaten him?
It was a startling reflection.
Brown had come there secretly; nobody knew of where he was going, nobody had seen him enter this shanty—facts concerning which McGinnis was as well posted as himself.