Under His Thumb — page 81: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

72 UNDER HIS THUMB. backin’ down. That Croly is awful smart, by cracky ! And I guess he thinks I’ve got some sand, or he wouldn’t put a job of this sort onto mé to begin with. I wonder if he ain’t ’round watchin’ to see if I back out? I wish he was, and I knew it. Then I shouldn’t feel quite so awful lonesome. I guess—eh!”’ He had found the right key at last, and inserted it in the lock. But it would not turn. What was the matter with it? Steve was perfectly sure he had thé right key. He ~ had known which one to use all the time, and had merely tried the others to gain time and—courage. This was the last in the bunch. It was of peculiar shape, and there could be no mistake about 11. The key seemed to fit perfectly, yet it would not turn back the bolt. . ‘“That’s queer, by Jinkins!” the boy muttered, tugging away at it with all his strength. In his earnestness he grasped the knob with his left hand, working the key with his right. In so doing he accidentally turned the knob, and the door swung open. Then he understood why it had bothered him so, | for the door had not been locked at all. ‘Somebody must be inside—somebody besides the watchman,’ the boy exclaimed, craning his neck to peer into the dark interior of the building. © All was still within, and there was not a gleam of light anywhere. Steve entered, and closed the door, then stood mo- tionless to listen, surrounded by the impenetrable gloom. He could hear only the loud beating of his own heart, and he wished he could not hear that, for it comicbooks.co mn