By this time she was able to insert a couple of fingers through the opening and could work to greater advantage. Once the lath-end was clean of plaster she held it firmly and pressed it from the joist until it was free of the nail-head, after which it was easy enough to twist it entirely away. This gave her an opening a good two inches wide and four inches long, an opening entirely through the ceiling. Through this she guardedly and slowly pushed the umbrella, first releasing the handle-spring so that when it was completely through the aperture the steel cover-rods mushroomed outward and opened wider and wider as she drew the umbrella handle cautiously upward again.
She heaved a sigh of relief as she fixed this handle in place, for she knew now that she could work without danger of being overheard. From now on all falling fragments of plaster merely dropped soundlessly into the inverted bell of the umbrella cover and hung there until she had an opening large enough to let her hand through and lift them away. She worked more quickly now, both grateful for the current of fresh air that seeped up against her face and encouraged by the thought that her movements had been quite silent. And by this time she had
