She picked up the key and looked at it. She walked out into the air, and
considered a little. More old forgotten keys were probably lying about
among the lumber in the sheds. What if she collected all she could find,
and tried them, one after another, in the locks of the cabinets and
cupboards now closed against her? Was there chance enough that any one
of them might fit to justify her in venturing on the experiment? If the
locks at St. Crux were as old-fashioned as the furniture--if there were
no protective niceties of modern invention to contend against--there was
chance enough beyond all question. Who could say whether the very key
in her hand might not be the lost duplicate of one of the keys on the
admiral's bunch? In the dearth of all other means of finding the way to
her end, the risk was worth running. A flash of the old spirit sparkled
in her weary eyes as she turned and re-entered the shed.
Half an hour more brought her to the limits of the time which she could
venture to allow herself in the open air. In that interval she had
searched the sheds from first to last, and had found five more keys.
"Five more chances!" she thought to herself, as she hid the keys, and
hastily returned to the house.
Pages:
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081