foliage which roofed us in.

Half-past two had chimed, and it was the darkest hour which

precedes the dawn, when we all started as a low but sharp click

came from the direction of the gate. 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

08.11.2007