The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: "A sound and he will kill us all."
She bent over me; a key jarred in the lock which had broken my penknife--
and the collar was off. As I rose to my feet the girl turned and
released Smith. She raised the lantern above the trap, and signed
to us to descend the wooden steps which its light revealed.
"Your knife," she whispered to me. "Leave it on the floor.
He will think you forced the locks. Down! Quickly!"
Nayland Smith, stepping gingerly, disappeared into the darkness.
I rapidly followed. Last of all came our mysterious friend, a gold band about
one of her ankles gleaming in the rays of the lantern which she carried.
We stood in a low-arched passage.
 The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |