"Here's the bar-slide. I'll just lift it an inch."
"Not half an inch," said Hugh, and he blew out the candle.
Then he took the key out of the inside of the lock, and put it on the outside.
"What! am I to be a prisoner in my own house?" said Drayton.
"I'll put the key on the bar-slide," whispered Hugh. "When you hear the door close after us, let yourself out—not a moment sooner."
The carriage-wheels stopped outside. There was a sound as of the driver jumping from the box. Then there came a knock.
Hugh Ritson stepped back to Drayton and whispered:
"This is the very man who tried to hold you—keep you close."