He turned it. The door was
unlocked now. A swift downward movement of his foot against the knob and
the door swung open.
He braced himself against its edge and, with his back firmly pressed
against the wall, relieved the strain on his thumbs. He rested a moment
and then, as it were, walked up the edge of the door until his feet
reached the top. Swinging one leg over the door, by patient effort he
was enabled to release one swollen thumb, then the other. An instant
later he dropped down and leaned exhaustedly against the wall.
While Locke was held in the room things had happened which would have
set him nearly crazy with anxiety. Eva, having heard nothing from him,
had become alarmed and had telephoned to the chemist. This was at
quarter to five, and she had supposed that it was the chemist who
answered her. In reality it had been an emissary, and he had told her
that the final experiment to find an antidote for her father's malady
had been really a failure and that Locke had left some time before.
After all that she had endured, this was almost the final blow to Eva.
She thought of Flint and Baker's dock and five o'clock.
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