Pagina 424 de 657

I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.

Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon

the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the

stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left

in darkness.

How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a

sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my

companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same

state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut

off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness.

From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at

our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that

the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the

deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of

an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and

one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for

whatever might befall.