The four men spent over an hour in the planked-up room, various sounds of clanking machinery and low-toned conversation issuing therefrom. When they finally completed their investigations and were coming out, Mr. Pentecost expressed the wish to see others of Mr. Haworth’s inventions; so the young man, after lighting Mr. Harker and Alfred to the stairway, took him to the large room where he kept his working models. In this way Pentecost got the opportunity of speaking with Haworth alone. There were a number of matters relative to the exploitation of the invention in the planked-up room that he wished to arrange with the young man personally. Nothing in all this was a secret from Harker, who understood that it would be better for Pentecost to arrange matters with Haworth personally, afterward turning over the results, as you might say, to his partner. In the course of this interview in the model room Pentecost spoke earnestly for some time. Haworth’s rejoinders were short and quiet, but it was perfectly evident that what he said, he meant. After several matters had been gone over, Pentecost turned his attention to the inventions he had come in there to see, for his wish to look them over wasn’t altogether a blind. Eventually he came upon one that suited the purpose he had in view. It showed great ingenuity, and it was not patented—two most desirable points. When the two men came upstairs they found Mr. Harker and Alfred seated at the table in the room on the left, working on the rough draft of the proposed agreement. A sound and businesslike contract with Haworth was of the utmost importance to the firm. They’d been discussing the matter for some time when Pentecost stopped them with a quick motion of his hand and sat listening. After a moment he glanced at his watch. The time was nineteen minutes after twelve. “Gave us four minutes longer than I figured,” he muttered in an undertone. “Mrs. Temple?” from Alfred in a whisper. Haworth, amazed, incredulous, started up to investigate, but Pentecost indicated that he’d like to attend to it himself. Tiptoeing to the swing door of the butler’s pantry at the farther end of the room, he stood close to it, listening for a second, then suddenly pushed it open and went out, the door closing itself after him. Sounds like the moving of furniture came from the kitchen, and Pentecost soon reëntered as though nothing unusual had taken place. Instead, though, of sitting where he’d been before, he pushed a chair close to the door into the big entrance hall, which door he opened a few inches, and sat in such a position that he could command a view of the main stairway at the farther end of the hall. “Shall I go on?” Alfred inquired after a moment. “Why not?” said Pentecost.