Kerry stood
watching the dog for a moment, and as he watched he became conscious
of an exhilarated pulse.
He tried the door and found it to be open. Thereupon he entered a
dirty little shop, which he remembered to have searched in person in
the grey dawn of the day which now was entering upon a premature dusk.
The dog ran in past him, crossed the gloomy shop, and raced down into
a tiny coal cellar, which likewise had been submitted during the early
hours of the morning to careful scrutiny under the directions of the
Chief Inspector.
A Chinese boy, who had been the only occupant of the place on that
occasion and who had given his name as Ah Fung, was surprised by the
sudden entrance of man and dog in the act of spreading coal dust with
his fingers upon a portion of the paved floor. He came to his feet
with a leap and confronted Kerry. The spaniel began to scratch
feverishly upon the spot where the coal dust had been artificially
spread. Kerry's eyes gleamed like steel. He shot out his hand and
grasped the Chinaman by his long hair. "Open that trap," he said, "or
I'll break you in half!"
Ah Fung's oblique eyes regarded him with an expression difficult to
analyze, but partly it was murder. He made no attempt to obey the
order.
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