At the
sound of our footsteps a door was opened in a passageway on our left, a
head thrust out, and as suddenly withdrawn. The same thing happened on
the third landing. Diffendorfer paid no attention to these intrusions,
and kept on down a long corridor ending in a door. I didn't like the
heads--it looked as if they were waiting for Diffendorfer to bring
somebody home, and so I slipped my umbrella along in my hand until I
could use it as a club, and waited in the dark until he had found the
key-hole, unlocked the door, and thrown it open. All I saw was the gray
light of the windows opposite this door, which made a dim silhouette of
Diffendorfer's figure. Then I heard the scraping of a match, and a
gas-jet flashed.
"'Come in,' called Diffendorfer, in a cheery tone. 'Wait till I punch up
the fire. Here, take this seat,' and he moved a great chair close to
the grate.
"I have seen a good many rooms in my time, but I must say this one took
the breath out of me for an instant. The walls were hung in old
tapestries, the furniture was of the rarest.
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