It was the hoarse voice of the other man. The candle was behind him and on the floor. It cast its light on his back. "If I could no'but get a blink frae the cannel, I'd see what's atween them," thought Gubblum.
The men with their burden were now at the top of the ladder.
"Twist about, and go in sideways," muttered the voice first heard.
The man below twisted. This movement brought the full light of the candle on to the faces of all three.
"Lord A'mighty, whativer's this?" Gubblum thought.
The burden was a man's body. But it was the face that startled the peddler—the face of Paul Ritson.
Gubblum's eyes passed over the group in one quick glance. He saw two Paul Ritsons there, and one of them lay as still as the dead.
A minute more of awful tension, and the door of the loft above was slammed and shut, the heavy feet of the two men descended the ladder quickly, and went down the stairs into the bar.
Gubblum listened as if with every sense. He knew that the outer door to the road had opened and closed. He heard footsteps dying away in the distance without. All was silent within the house.