Someone had entered the
drive. Again there was a long silence, and I had begun to fear
that it was a false alarm, when a stealthy step was heard upon
the other side of the hut, and a moment later a metallic
scraping and clinking. The man was trying to force the lock!
This time his skill was greater or his tool was better,
for there was a sudden snap and the creak of the hinges.
Then a match was struck, and next instant the steady light from
a candle filled the interior of the hut. Through the gauze
curtain our eyes were all riveted upon the scene within.
The nocturnal visitor was a young man, frail and thin, with a
black moustache which intensified the deadly pallor of his face.
He could not have been much above twenty years of age. I have
never seen any human being who appeared to be in such a pitiable
fright, for his teeth were visibly chattering and he was shaking
in every limb. He was dressed like a gentleman, in Norfolk
jacket and knickerbockers, with a cloth cap upon his head.
We watched him staring round with frightened eyes. Then he laid
the candle-end upon the table and disappeared from our view into
one of the corners.
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