Vining lived on the second floor. His windows were dark. But there were lights in the apartment on the first floor although there were none in the basement, so that we were in constant danger of detection as we stood in the little entrance. However, Larry began fishing under his coat and calmly made ready to force the lock. I confess that I was uncomfortable. This was taking the law into our own hands with a vengeance—and if we were caught, I could not take the law into my confidence. Then, too, if any one came along while we were searching Vining’s rooms and saw the forced lock, there would be a hullabaloo at once. “Wait a minute, Larry,” I said, “there are some children coming. I’ve got a better idea, I think.” There were letter-boxes for each apartment in the vestibule and a push button underneath each letterbox. We stood quietly waiting until the children had come, laughing and calling, nearly opposite us. Then I pressed all the bells. I waited a moment, and then sure enough I heard the latch lifted. “Quick, Larry,” I whispered. “Slip something into the door to hold it open.” He slipped one of his tools under the door at the bottom, so that the latch could not close again, and then I drew him back into the shadow of the steps next door. We waited a few moments and presently we heard a window raised overhead. The children were still calling in the street, and a woman’s voice floated down to us, faintly: “Drat those children!” Then the window was closed with a bang. Larry drew closer to me. “Say, have you done this before, sor?” he demanded. We waited for perhaps ten minutes, But nothing happened and no one came to the front door, either from inside the house or from the street. Then Larry slipped quietly forward, pushed open the door, picked up his jemmy and stood waiting for me. “Come on, sor,” he whispered, “’tis now or never!” I followed him into the house. Now I had told Larry that there was just a possibility either that they were waiting for us or that they might return and catch us. On that account I had arranged that we should not stick together after we got into the apartment, but that he should drop behind a little and follow me. As soon as he was inside, he was to hide somewhere where he could watch me, to act, if necessary, as surprise reënforcements. What I had heard of Vining had made me skeptical as to the ease with which his rooms could be searched, especially if there were anything there for him to conceal. There was a light in the entrance hall, but everything was quiet. We passed through it and up the first flight of stairs. My heart was in my mouth. However, the stairs creaked hardly at all, and we reached the dark hall one flight up with very little noise. Larry had called with a parcel for an imaginary tenant earlier in the evening, and had not only marked in his memory the stairs that creaked, but had also ascertained that Vining’s door would be comparatively simple to open.