without any difficulty. To satisfy herself--on more points than one--she
repeated the performance.

"You've got the knack," said Mr. Tredgold, meeting her gaze with great
calmness. "It's extraordinary what a lot of character there is in locks;
they let some people open them without any trouble, while others may
fumble at them till they're tired."

The girl pushed the door open and stood just inside the room.

"Thank you," she said, and gave him a little bow of dismissal.

A vein of obstinacy in Mr. Tredgold's disposition, which its owner
mistook for firmness, asserted itself. It was plain that the girl had
estimated his services at their true value and was quite willing to
apprise him of the fact. He tried the lock again, and with more
bitterness than the occasion seemed to warrant said that somebody had
been oiling it.

"I promised Captain Bowers to come in this afternoon and see that a few
odd things had been done," he added. "May I come in now?"

The girl withdrew into the room, and, seating herself in a large
arm-chair by the fireplace, watched his inspection of door-knobs and
window-fastenings with an air of grave amusement, which he found somewhat
trying.

"Captain Bowers had the walls panelled and these lockers made to make the
room look as much like a ship's cabin as possible," he said, pausing in
his labours. "He was quite pleased to find the staircase opening out of