Sergeant Daw was the last to
go out; he closed the door behind him as we had arranged.

For a while I sat quiet, my heart beating. The place was grimly dark.
The only light was a faint one from the top of the lamp which threw a
white circle on the high ceiling, except the emerald sheen of the shade
as the light took its under edges. Even the light only seemed to
emphasize the blackness of the shadows. These presently began to seem,
as on last night, to have a sentience of their own. I did not myself
feel in the least sleepy; and each time I went softly over to look at
the patient, which I did about every ten minutes, I could see that Miss
Trelawny was keenly alert. Every quarter of an hour one or other of
the policemen looked in through the partly opened door. Each time both
Miss Trelawny and I said through our mufflers, "all right," and the
door was closed again.

As the time wore on, the silence and the darkness seemed to increase.
The circle of light on the ceiling was still there, but it seemed less
brilliant than at first. The green edging of the lamp-shade became
like Maori greenstone rather than emerald. The sounds of the night
without the house, and the starlight spreading pale lines along the
edges of the window-cases, made the pall of black within more solemn
and more mysterious.

We heard the clock in the corridor chiming the quarters with its silver
bell till two o'clock; and then a strange feeling came over me. I
could see from Miss Trelawny's movement as she looked round, that she
also had some new sensation. The new detective had just looked in; we
two were alone with the unconscious patient for another quarter of an
hour.

My heart began to beat wildly. There was a sense of fear over me. Not
for myself; my fear was impersonal. It seemed as though some new
person had entered the room, and that a strong intelligence was awake
close to me. Something brushed against my leg. I put my hand down
hastily and touched the furry coat of Silvio. With a very faint
far-away sound of a snarl he turned and scratched at me. I felt blood
on my hand. I rose gently and came over to the bedside. Miss
Trelawny, too, had stood up and was looking behind her, as though there
was something close to her. Her eyes were wild, and her breast rose and
fell as though she were fighting for air. When I touched her she did
not seem to feel me; she worked her hands in front of her, as though
she was fending off somethi