e might have been endeavoring to
insert the key with the irregular edge downward, and not uppermost; but
no--such was not the case.

Again he tried, and with no better result. His nerves were threatening
to overcome him, now; he had not counted upon any such hitch as this:
but fear sharpened his wits. He recollected the fall which he had
sustained, and how he had been precipitated upon the polished floor,
outside.

Could he have mistaken his direction? Was it not possible that owing to
his momentary panic, he had arisen, facing not the door at the foot of
the steps, as he had supposed, but that by which a moment earlier he had
entered the cave of the golden dragon?

Desperation was with him now; he was gone too far to draw back. Trailing
his fingers along the matting covering of the wall, he retraced his
steps, came to the open door, and reentered the apartment of the dragon.
He complimented himself, fearfully, upon his own address, for he was
inspired with an idea whereby he might determine his position. Picking
his way among the little tables and the silken ottomans, he groped about
with his hands in the impenetrable darkness for the pedestal supporting
the dragon. At last his fingers touched the ivory. He slid them
downward, feeling for the great vase of poppies which always stood
before the golden image....

The vase was on the LEFT and not on the RIGHT of the pedestal. His
theory was correct; he had been groping in the mysterious precincts of
that Block B which he had never entered, which he had never seen any one
else enter, and from whence he had never known any one to emerge! It
was the fall that had confused him; now, he took his bearings anew, bent
down to feel for any tables that might lie in his path, and crept across
the apartment toward the door which he sought.

Ah! this time there could be no mistake! He depressed the lever handle,
and, as the door swung open before him, crept furtively into the
corridor.

Repeating the process whereby he had determined the position of the end
door, he fumbled once again for the keyhole. He found it with even less
difficulty than he had experienced in the wrong corridor, inserted the
key in the lock, and with intense satisfaction felt it slip into place.

He inhaled a long breath of the lifeless air, turned the key, and threw
the door open. One step forward he took...

A whistle (God! he knew it!) a low, minor whistle, wavered through the
stillness. He was enve