Presently he returned with a tray, and having by now realised that his protests were useless, he worked with a nervous energy quite surprising.
As Bundle had seen, the shelves were easily detachable. She took them down, ranged them upright against the wall, and then stepped in.
“H’m,” she remarked. “Pretty narrow. It’s going to be a tight fit. Shut the door on me carefully, Alfred—that’s right. Yes, it can be done. Now I want a gimlet.”
“A gimlet, my lady?”
“That’s what I said.”
“I don’t know—”
“Nonsense, you must have a gimlet—perhaps you’ve got an auger as well. If you haven’t got what I want, you’ll have to go out and buy it, so you’d better try hard to find the right thing.”
Alfred departed and returned presently with quite a creditable assortment of tools.
Bundle seized what she wanted and proceeded swiftly and efficiently to bore a small hole at the level of her right eye. She did this from the outside so that it should be less noticeable, and she dared not make it too large lest it should attract attention.
“There, that’ll do,” she remarked at last.
“Oh, but, my lady, my lady—”
“Yes?”
“But they’ll find you—if they should open the door.”