The closeness of the door to the jambs warned me that an attempt to prise it open would be equally futile; and for a moment I stood gazing in perplexity at the solid planks, which bid fair to baffle me to the end.
The position was, indeed, one of great difficulty, nor can I now think of any way out of it better or other than that which I adopted.

Against the wall near the head of the stairs I had noticed, as I came up, a stout wooden stool.

I stole out and fetched this, and setting it against the opposite wall, endeavoured in this way to get sufficient purchase for my feet.

The lock still held; but, as I threw my whole weight on the door, the panel against which I leaned gave way and broke inwards with a loud, crashing sound, which echoed through the empty house, and might almost have been beard in the street outside.
It reached the ears, at any rate, of the men sitting below, and I heard them troop noisily out and stand in the hall, now talking loudly, and now listening.

A minute of breathless suspense followed--it seemed a long minute; and then, to my relief, they tramped back again, and I was free to return to my task.