The time, now, was twenty-three minutes past twelve. The next half hour,

at most, would decide the question of whether he would, or would not,

get up from his bed, and leave the room.

In the breathless interest of watching him--in the unutterable triumph

of seeing the first result of the experiment declare itself in the

manner, and nearly at the time, which I had anticipated--I had utterly

forgotten the two companions of my night vigil. Looking towards them

now, I saw the Law (as represented by Mr. Bruff's papers) lying unheeded

on the floor. Mr. Bruff himself was looking eagerly through a crevice

left in the imperfectly-drawn curtains of the bed. And Betteredge,

oblivious of all respect for social distinctions, was peeping over Mr.

Bruff's shoulder.

They both started back, on finding that I was looking at them, like two

boys caught out by their schoolmaster in a fault. I signed to them to

take off their boots quietly, as I was taking off mine. If Mr. Blake

gave us the chance of following him, it was vitally necessary to follow

him without noise.

Ten minutes passed--and nothing happened. Then, he suddenly threw the

bed-clothes off him. He put one leg out of bed. He waited.

"I wish I had never taken it out of the bank," he said to himself. "It

was safe in the bank."

My heart throbbed fast; the pulses at my temples beat furiously. The

doubt about the safety of the Diamond was, once more, the dominant

impression in his brain! On that one pivot, the whole success of the

experiment turned. The prospect thus suddenly opened before me was too

much for my shattered nerves. I was obliged to look away from him--or I

should have lost my self-control.

There was another interval of silence.

When I could trust myself to look back at him he was out of his bed,

standing erect at the side of it. The pupils of his eyes were now

contracted; his eyeballs gleamed in the light of the candle as he moved

his head slowly to and fro. He was thinking; he was doubting--he spoke

again.

"How do I know?" he said. "The Indians may be hidden in the house."

He stopped, and walked slowly to the other end of the room. He

turned--waited--came back to the bed.

"It's not even locked up," he went on. "It's in the drawer of her

cabinet. And the drawer doesn't lock."

He sat down on the side of the bed. "Anybody might take it," he said.




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