I'll show you the room."

He caught a lantern from the wall as he spoke and began to lead the way
up the stairs to the balcony. He pointed out the advantages of the house
as he spoke.

"Not half bad--this house, eh?" he said proudly. "And who d'you think
planned it? Your old man, kid. It was Black Jack Hollis himself that done
it! He was took off sudden before he'd had a chance to work it out and
build it. But I used his ideas in this the same's I've done in other
things. His idea was a house like a ship.

"They build a ship in compartments, eh? Ship hits a rock, water comes in.
But it only fills one compartment, and the old ship still floats. Same
with this house. You seen them walls. And the walls on the outside ain't
the only thing. Every partition is the same thing, pretty near; and a
gent could stand behind these doors safe as if he was a mile away from a
gun. Why? Because they's a nice little lining of the best steel you ever
seen in the middle of 'em.

"Cost a lot. Sure. But look at us now. Suppose a posse was to rush the
house. They bust into the kitchen side. Where are they? Just the same as
if they hadn't got in at all. I bolt the doors from the inside of the big
room, and they're shut out agin. Or suppose they take the big room? Then
a couple of us slide out on this balcony and spray 'em with lead. This
house ain't going to be took till the last room is filled full of the
sheriff's men!"

He paused on the balcony and looked proudly over the big, baronial room
below them. It seemed huger than ever from this viewpoint, and the men