dfish. I could not
think of a safer asylum than this, if we must spend the night upon the
premises; and Raffles agreed with me when I had led him by sheltering
shrubbery and perilous lawn to the diminutive _chalet_ between the
rhododendrons and the water.

But what a night it was! The little bathing-box had two doors, one to
the water, the other to the path. To hear all that could be heard, it
was necessary to keep both doors open, and quite imperative not to
talk. The damp night air of April filled the place, and crept through
our evening-clothes and light overcoats into the very marrow; the
mental torture of the situation was renewed and multiplied in my
brain; and all the time one's ears were pricked for footsteps on the
path between the rhododendrons. The only sounds we could at first
identify came one and all from the stables. Yet there the excitement
subsided sooner than we had expected, and it was Raffles himself who
breathed a doubt as to whether they were turning out the hunters after
all. On the other hand, we heard wheels in the drive not long after
midnight; and Raffles, who was beginning to scout among the
shrubberies, stole back to tell me that the guests were departing, and
being sped, with an unimpaired conviviality which he failed to
understand. I said I could not understand it either, but suggested the
general influence of liquor, and expressed my envy of their state. I
had drawn my knees up to my chin, on the bench where one used to dry
one's self after bathing, and there I sat in a seeming stolidity at
utter variance with my inward temper. I heard Raffles creep forth
again and I let him go without a word. I never doubted that he would
be back again in a minute, and so let many minutes elapse before I
realized his continued absence, and finally crept out myself to look
for him.

Even then I only supposed that he had posted himself outside in some
more commanding position. I took a catlike stride and breathed his
name. There was no answer. I ventured further, till I could overlook
the lawns: they lay like clean slates in the starlight: there was no
sign of living thing nearer than the house, which was still lit up,
but quiet enough now. Was it a cunning and deliberate quiet assumed as
a snare? Had they caught Raffles, and were they waiting for me? I
returned to the boat-house in an agony of fear and indignation. It was
fear for the long hours that I sat there waiting for him; it was
indignation when