"'I wouldn't,' I remonstrated: 'some one may be in there.'
"'I am going to see: I must look into it. It is daylight, you know, and we sha'n't be much frightened. Help me to push away the bed.'
"'I won't do anything so absurd. This is a hotel, Annie, and there must be plenty of adjoining rooms in it. Suppose that room is now occupied by a boarder?'
"'If it is occupied they will lock the door on the other side, and I will try the latch softly to see; but I know it is not. Don't you see that the only entrance must be from here? There is the entry. opposite, and here is the court: now, how could any one get into it but through this room? It must be a small place, too, for here is the corner of the house, and it has been evidently planned to be kept concealed."
"'No matter: we have no right to any rooms but these we are in. Come away, and let well enough alone.'
"'It is not "well enough," as you call it. I am going to see into it, and why they hide it. I declare,' and she examined the door critically, 'it looks like the entrance to Bluebeard's chamber. Look at these queer marks, these dents and stains, as if there had been a struggle. It is our duty to investigate;' and her voice grew impressive. 'Perhaps we have been brought here for that very purpose, and, Jane, if there is a dead body in there, I shall inform the police.' Annie was very brave in daylight.
"'Fiddle-de-dee!' I replied to this fine speech. 'What you call duty, I call curiosity. I am ravenously hungry, and I wish you would finish dressing and let us get to breakfast.'
"'I will just tell you this,' she answered indignantly, and yet with a quiver in her voice, 'I never in my life felt as I did last night when I saw that door. It was quite like what people write of a mysterious influence, or the presence of some one unseen; and that whistle or voice or moan, as if a soul was calling, came from here; and you must help me to find out what it really was, for I can't go away without knowing.'
"I saw it was useless to try longer to dissuade her. The bed moved easily: she took my hand and led me behind it; then warily tried the latch. It rose, but she was obliged to lean all her weight against the door before it would give way, and finally it opened so unexpectedly that she almost fell forward.