andscrambledsoftlyandswiftlyoverthesillintothehouse。Hisfeetfellnoiselesslyonamatofskin。Hewasaburglarindeed!
Hecrouchedforatime,allearsandpeeringeyes。Outsidewasascamperingandrustling,andforamomentherepentedofhisenterprise。Ashort“miaow,“aspitting,andarushintosilence,spokereassuringlyofcats。Hiscouragegrew。Hestoodup。Everyonewasabed,itseemed。Soeasyisittocommitaburglary,ifoneissominded。Hewasgladhehadputittothetest。Hedeterminedtotakesomepettytrophy,justtoprovehisfreedomfromanyabjectfearofthelaw,anddepartthewayhehadcome。
Hepeeredabouthim,andsuddenlythecriticalspiritaroseagain。
Burglarsdidfarmorethansuchmereelementaryentranceasthis:
theywentintorooms,theyforcedsafes。Well——hewasnotafraid。
Hecouldnotforcesafes,becausethatwouldbeastupidwantofconsiderationforhishosts。Buthewouldgointorooms——hewouldgoupstairs。More:hetoldhimselfthathewasperfectlysecure;
anemptyhousecouldnotbemorereassuringlystill。Hehadtoclenchhishands,nevertheless,andsummonallhisresolutionbeforehebeganverysoftlytoascendthedimstaircase,pausingforseveralsecondsbetweeneachstep。Abovewasasquarelandingwithoneopenandseveralcloseddoors;andallthehousewasstill。Foramomenthestoodwonderingwhatwouldhappenifsomesleeperwokesuddenlyandemerged。Theopendoorshowedamoonlitbedroom,thecoverletwhiteandundisturbed。Intothisroomhecreptinthreeinterminableminutesandtookapieceofsoapforhisplunder——
histrophy。Heturnedtodescendevenmoresoftlythanhehadascended。Itwasaseasyas——
Hist!
Footsteps!Onthegraveloutsidethehouse——andthenthenoiseofalatchkey,theyawnandbangofadoor,andthespittingofamatchinthehallbelow。Mr。Ledbetterstoodpetrifiedbythesuddendiscoveryofthefollyuponwhichhehadcome。“HowonearthamItogetoutofthis?“saidMr。Ledbetter。
Thehallgrewbrightwithacandleflame,someheavyobjectbumpedagainsttheumbrella-stand,andfeetwereascendingthestaircase。InaflashMr。Ledbetterrealisedthathisretreatwasclosed。Hestoodforamoment,apitifulfigureofpenitentconfusion。“Mygoodness!
WhataFOOLIhavebeen!“hewhispered,andthendartedswiftlyacrosstheshadowylandingintotheemptybedroomfromwhichhehadjustcome。Hestoodlistening——quivering。Thefootstepsreachedthefirst-floorlanding。
Horriblethought!Thiswaspossiblythelatecomer’sroom!Notamomentwastobelost!Mr。Ledbetterstoopedbesidethebed,thankedHeavenforavalance,andcrawledwithinitsprotectionnottensecondstoosoon。Hebecamemotionlessonhandsandknees。Theadvancingcandle-lightappearedthroughthethinnerstitchesofthefabric,theshadowsranwildlyabout,andbecamerigidasthecandlewasputdown。
“Lord,whataday!“saidthenewcomer,blowingnoisily,anditseemedhedepositedsomeheavyburthenonwhatMr。Ledbetter,judgingbythefeet,decidedtobeawriting-table。Theunseenthenwenttothedoorandlockedit,examinedthefasteningsofthewindowscarefullyandpulleddowntheblinds,andreturningsatdownuponthebedwithstartlingponderosity。
“WHATaday!“hesaid。“GoodLord!“andblewagain,andMr。Ledbetterinclinedtobelievethatthepersonwasmoppinghisface。Hisbootsweregoodstoutboots;theshadowsofhislegsuponthevalancesuggestedaformidablestoutnessofaspect。Afteratimeheremovedsomeuppergarments——acoatandwaistcoat,Mr。Ledbetterinferred——
andcastingthemovertherailofthebedremainedbreathinglessnoisily,andasitseemedcoolingfromaconsiderabletemperature。
Atintervalshemutteredtohimself,andoncehelaughedsoftly。AndMr。Ledbettermutteredtohimself,buthedidnotlaugh。“Ofallthefoolishthings,“saidMr。Ledbetter。“WhatonearthamItodonow?“
Hisoutlookwasnecessarilylimited。Theminuteaperturesbetweenthestitchesofthefabricofthevalanceadmittedacertainamountoflight,butpermittednopeeping。Theshadowsuponthiscurtain,saveforthosesharplydefinedlegs,wereenigmatical,andintermingledconfusinglywiththefloridpatterningofthechintz。Beneaththeedgeofthevalanceastripofcarpetwasvisible,and,bycautiouslydepressinghiseye,Mr。Ledbetterfoundthatthisstripbroadeneduntilthewholeareaofthefloorcameintoview。Thecarpetwasaluxuriousone,theroomspacious,and,tojudgebythecastorsandsoforthofthefurniture,wellequipped。
Whatheshoulddohefounditdifficulttoimagine。Towaituntilthispersonhadgonetobed,andthen,whenheseemedtobesleeping,tocreeptothedoor,unlockit,andboltheadlongforthatbalconyseemedtheonlypossiblethingtodo。Woulditbepossibletojumpfromthebalcony?Thedangerofit!Whenhethoughtofthechancesagainsthim,Mr。Ledbetterdespaired。Hewaswithinanaceofthrustingforthhisheadbesidethegentleman’slegs,coughingifnecessarytoattracthisattention,andthen,smiling,apologisingandexplaininghisunfortunateintrusionbyafewwell-chosensentences。Buthefoundthesesentenceshardtochoose。“Nodoubt,sir,myappearanceispeculiar,“or,“Itrust,sir,youwillpardonmysomewhatambiguousappearancefrombeneathyou,“wasaboutasmuchashecouldget。
Gravepossibilitiesforcedthemselvesonhisattention。Supposetheydidnotbelievehim,whatwouldtheydotohim?Wouldhisunblemishedhighcharactercountfornothing?Technicallyhewasaburglar,beyonddispute。Followingoutthistrainofthought,hewascomposingalucidapologyfor“thistechnicalcrimeIhavecommitted,“tobedeliveredbeforesentenceinthedock,whenthestoutgentlemangotupandbeganwalkingabouttheroom。Helockedandunlockeddrawers,andMr。Ledbetterhadatransienthopethathemightbeundressing。But,no!Heseatedhimselfatthewriting-table,andbegantowriteandthentearupdocuments。
Presentlythesmellofburningcream-laidpapermingledwiththeodourofcigarsinMr。Ledbetter’snostrils。
“ThepositionIhadassumed,“saidMr。Ledbetterwhenhetoldmeofthesethings,“wasinmanyrespectsanill-advisedone。Atransversebarbeneaththebeddepressedmyheadunduly,andthrewadisproportionateshareofmyweightuponmyhands。Afteratime,I
experiencedwhatiscalled,Ibelieve,acrickintheneck。Thepressureofmyhandsonthecoarsely-stitchedcarpetspeedilybecamepainful。Myknees,too,werepainful,mytrousersbeingdrawntightlyoverthem。AtthattimeIworeratherhighercollarsthanIdonow——twoandahalfinches,infact——andIdiscoveredwhatIhadnotremarkedbefore,thattheedgeoftheoneIworewasfrayedslightlyunderthechin。Butmuchworsethanthesethingswasanitchingofmyface,whichIcouldonlyrelievebyviolentgrimacing——Itriedtoraisemyhand,buttherustleofthesleevealarmedme。AfteratimeIhadtodesistfromthisreliefalso,because——happilyintime——
Idiscoveredthatmyfacialcontortionswereshiftingmyglassesdownmynose。Theirfallwould,ofcourse,haveexposedme,andasitwastheycametorestinanobliquepositionofbynomeansstableequilibrium。InadditionIhadaslightcold,andanintermittentdesiretosneezeorsniffcausedmeinconvenience。Infact,quiteapartfromtheextremeanxietyofmyposition,myphysicaldiscomfortbecameinashorttimeveryconsiderableindeed。ButIhadtostaytheremotionless,nevertheless。“
Afteraninterminabletime,therebeganachinkingsound。Thisdeepenedintoarhythm:chink,chink,chink——twenty-fivechinks——
araponthewriting-table,andagruntfromtheownerofthestoutlegs。ItdawneduponMr。Ledbetterthatthischinkingwasthechinkingofgold。Hebecameincredulouslycuriousasitwenton。Hiscuriositygrew。Already,ifthatwasthecase,thisextraordinarymanmusthavecountedsomehundredsofpounds。AtlastMr。Ledbettercouldresistitnolonger,andhebeganverycautiouslytofoldhisarmsandlowerhisheadtothelevelofthefloor,inthehopeofpeepingunderthevalance。Hemovedhisfeet,andonemadeaslightscrapingonthefloor。Suddenlythechinkingceased。Mr。Ledbetterbecamerigid。Afterawhilethechinkingwasresumed。Thenitceasedagain,andeverythingwasstill,exceptMr。Ledbetter’sheart——thatorganseemedtohimtobebeatinglikeadrum。
Thestillnesscontinued。Mr。Ledbetter’sheadwasnowonthefloor,andhecouldseethestoutlegsasfarastheshins。Theywerequitestill。Thefeetwererestingonthetoesanddrawnback,asitseemed,underthechairoftheowner。Everythingwasquitestill,everythingcontinuedstill。AwildhopecametoMr。Ledbetterthattheunknownwasinafitorsuddenlydead,withhisheaduponthewriting-table……
Thestillnesscontinued。Whathadhappened?Thedesiretopeepbecameirresistible。VerycautiouslyMr。Ledbettershiftedhishandforward,projectedapioneerfinger,andbegantoliftthevalanceimmediatelynexthiseye。Nothingbrokethestillness。Hesawnowthestranger’sknees,sawthebackofthewriting-table,andthen——
hewasstaringatthebarrelofaheavyrevolverpointedoverthewriting-tableathishead。
“Comeoutofthat,youscoundrel!“saidthevoiceofthestoutgentlemaninatoneofquietconcentration。“Comeout。Thisside,andnow。Noneofyourhanky-panky——comerightout,now。“
Mr。Ledbettercamerightout,alittlereluctantlyperhaps,butwithoutanyhanky-panky,andatonce,evenashewastold。
“Kneel,“saidthestoutgentleman。“andholdupyourhands。“
ThevalancedroppedagainbehindMr。Ledbetter,andherosefromall-foursandhelduphishands。“Dressedlikeaparson,“saidthestoutgentleman。“I’mblestifheisn’t!Alittlechap,too!
YouSCOUNDREL!Whatthedeucepossessedyoutocomehereto-night?
Whatthedeucepossessedyoutogetundermybed?“
Hedidnotappeartorequireananswer,butproceededatoncetoseveralveryobjectionableremarksuponMr。Ledbetter’spersonalappearance。Hewasnotaverybigman,buthelookedstrongtoMr。
Ledbetter:hewasasstoutashislegshadpromised,hehadratherdelicately-chiselledsmallfeaturesdistributedoveraconsiderableareaofwhitishface,andquiteanumberofchins。Andthenoteofhisvoicehadasortofwhisperingundertone。
“Whatthedeuce,Isay,possessedyoutogetundermybed?“
Mr。Ledbetter,byaneffort,smiledawanpropitiatorysmile。Hecoughed。“Icanquiteunderstand——“hesaid。