pain and apprehension, which I
had experienced when he had spoken to me before, creeping, or rather
rushing, over me again. I had to face the matter out, however. My
relations with her, and the feeling toward her which I now knew full
well meant a very deep love and devotion, demanded so much. I said as
calmly as I could, for I knew the keen eyes of the skilful investigator
were on me:

"And the inference?"

He answered with the cool audacity of conviction:

"The inference to me is that there was no robbery at all. The goods
were taken by someone to this house, where they were received through a
window on the ground floor. They were placed in the cabinet, ready to
be discovered when the proper time should come!"

Somehow I felt relieved; the assumption was too monstrous. I did not
want, however, my relief to be apparent, so I answered as gravely as I
could:

"And who do you suppose brought them to the house?"

"I keep my mind open as to that. Possibly Mr. Corbeck himself; the
matter might be too risky to trust to a third party."

"Then the natural extension of your inference is that Mr. Corbeck is a
liar and a fraud; and that he is in conspiracy with Miss Trelawny to
deceive someone or other about those lamps."

"Those are harsh words, Mr. Ross. They're so plain-spoken that they
bring a man up standing, and make new doubts for him. But I have to go
where my reason points. It may be that there is another party than
Miss Trelawny in it. Indeed, if it hadn't been for the other matter
that set me thinking and bred doubts of its own about her, I wouldn't
dream of mixing her up in this. But I'm safe on Corbeck. Whoever else
is in it, he is! The things couldn't have been taken without his
connivance--if what he says is true. If it isn't--well! he is a liar
anyhow. I would think it a bad job to have him stay in the house with
so many valuables, only that it will give me and my mate a chance of
watching him. We'll keep a pretty good look-out, too, I tell you.
He's up in my room now, guarding those lamps; but Johnny Wright is
there too. I go on before he comes off; so there won't be much chance
of another house-breaking. Of course, Mr. Ross, all this, too, is
between you and me."

"Quite so! You may depend on my silence!" I said; and he went away to
keep a close eye on the Egyptologist.

It seemed as though all my painful experiences were to go in pairs, and
that the sequence of the previous day