sed. This was a discovery of some consequence, causing Mr.
Gryce to grow still more thoughtful and to eye the smooth steel plate
under his hand with an air of marked distrust.

"Mr. Adams carried his taste for the mechanical to great extremes," he
remarked to the slightly uneasy man beside him. "This slide is very
carefully fitted, and, if I am not mistaken, it will stand some
battering before we are released."

"I wish that his interest in electricity had led him to attach such a
simple thing as a bell."

"True, we have come across no bell."

"It would have smacked too much of the ordinary to please him."

"Besides, his only servant was deaf."

"Try the effect of a blow, a quick blow with this silver-mounted
alpenstock. Some one should hear and come to our assistance."

"I will try my whistle first; it will be better understood."

But though Mr. Gryce both whistled and struck many a resounding knock
upon the barrier before them, it was an hour before he could draw the
attention of Styles, and five hours before an opening could be effected
in the wall large enough to admit of their escape, so firmly was this
barrier of steel fixed across the sole outlet from this remarkable room.

CHAPTER V.

FIVE SMALL SPANGLES.

Such an experience could not fail to emphasize Mr. Gryce's interest in
the case and heighten the determination he had formed to probe its
secrets and explain all its extraordinary features. Arrived at
Headquarters, where his presence was doubtless awaited with some anxiety
by those who knew nothing of the cause of his long detention, his first
act was to inquire if Bartow, the butler, had come to his senses during
the night.

The answer was disappointing. Not only was there no change in his
condition, but the expert in lunacy who had been called in to pass upon
his case had expressed an opinion unfavorable to his immediate recovery.

Mr. Gryce looked sober, and, summoning the officer who had managed
Bartow's arrest, he asked how the mute had acted when he found himself
detained.

The answer was curt, but very much to the point.

"Surprised, sir. Shook his head and made some queer gestures, then went
through his pantomime. It's quite a spectacle, sir. Poor fool, he keeps
holding his hand back, so."

Mr. Gryce noted the gesture; it was the same which Bartow had made when
he first realized that he had spectators. Its meaning was not wholly
apparent. He had made it with his right hand (