The
elevator bell was jangling insistently.
In the face of the crisis the elevator boy looked at Garrick
appealingly.
"Run your car up and down until all are out who want to go,"
ordered Garrick. "Only tell them all that an alarm has already
been turned in and that there is no danger except to the suite
that is on fire. You may leave us here."
We had reached the top floor and stepped out. I realised fully now
what had happened. Either the robbers had found out only too
quickly that they had been duped or else they had reasoned that
the letter they sought had been hidden in a place in the apartment
for which they had no time to hunt.
It had probably been the latter idea which they had had and,
instead of hunting further, they had taken a quicker and more
unscrupulous method than Garrick had imagined and had set the room
on fire. Fortunately that had been promptly and faithfully
reported to us over the optophone in time to localize the damage.
"At least we were able to turn in an alarm only a few seconds
after they started the fire," panted Garrick, as he strained to
burst in the door.
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