By means of a short ladder which Coombes had brought for the purpose
Kerry climbed on to the wall and dropped into the yard.
"The jemmy!" he said softly.
Coombes, also mounting, dropped the required implement. Kerry caught
it deftly, and in a very few minutes had wrenched away the rough
planking nailed over one of the lower windows, without making very
much noise.
"Shall I come down?" inquired Coombes in muffled tones from the top of
the wall.
"No," rapped Kerry. "Hide the ladder again. If I want help I'll
whistle. Catch!"
He tossed the jemmy up to Coombes, and Coombes succeeded in catching
it. Then Kerry raised the glass-less sash of the window and
stepped into a little room, which he surveyed by the light of his
electric torch. It was filthy and littered with rubbish, but showed no
sign of having been occupied for a long time. The ceiling was nearly
black, and so were the walls. He went out into a narrow passage
similar to that in the house of Sin Sin Wa and leading to a stair.
Walking quietly, he began to ascend. Mollie Gretna's description of
the opium-house had been most detailed and lurid, and he was prepared
for some extravagant scene.
He found three bare, dirty rooms, having all the windows boarded up.
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