She went to her own room and washed away the dust of the journey.
The packet that Kelly had given her she locked away in her own box.
Burke might enter at any moment, and she did not dare to attempt to
open the strong-box then. She knew the money must be returned and
speedily; she would not rest until she had returned it. But she
could not risk detection at that moment. Her courage was worn down
with physical fatigue. She lacked the nerve.

When Burke came in, he found her bringing in a hastily prepared
supper. He took the tray from her and made her sit down while he
waited upon her. Her weariness was too great to hide, and she
yielded without demur, lacking the strength to do otherwise.

He made her eat and drink though she was almost too tired even for
that, and when the meal was done he would not suffer her to rest in
a chair but led her with a certain grim kindliness to the door of
her room.

"Go to bed, child!" he said. "And stay there till you feel better!"

She obeyed him, feeling that she had no choice, yet still too
anxious to sleep. He brought her a glass of hot milk when she was
in bed, remarking that her supper had been a poor one, and she
drank in feverish haste, yearning to be left alone. Then, when he
had gone, she tormented herself by wondering if he had noticed
anything strange in her manner, if he thought that she were going
to be ill and so would perhaps mount guard over her.

A chafing sense of impotence came upon her. It would be terrible
to fail now after all she had undergone. She lay listening,
straining every nerve. He would be sure to smoke his pipe on the
_stoep_ before turning in. That was the opportunity that she must
seize. She dared not leave it till the morrow. He might ask for
the key of the strong-box at any time. But still she did not hear
him moving beyond the closed door, and she wondered if he could
have fallen asleep in the sitting-room. A heavy drowsiness was
beginning to creep over her notwithstanding her uneasiness. She
fought against it with all her strength, but it gained ground in
spite of her. Her brain felt clogged with weariness.

She began to doze, waking with violent starts and listening,
drifting back to slumber ever more deeply, till at last actual
sleep possessed her, and for a space she lay in complete oblivion.

It must have been a full hour later that she became suddenly
conscious again, with every faculty on the alert, and remembered
th