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Page 79
How long would it be before Cayley came up? It wasn't that he
wanted his friends, Beverley and Gillingham, to be asleep before
he started on his business at the pond; all that he wanted was to
be sure that they were safely in their bedrooms. Cayley's
business would make no noise, give no sign, to attract the most
wakeful member of the household, so long as the household was
really inside the house. But if he wished to reassure himself
about his guests, he would have to wait until they were far
enough on their way to sleep not to be disturbed by him as he
came up to reassure himself. So it amounted to the same thing,
really. He would wait until they were asleep .... until they
were asleep .... asleep ....
With a great effort Bill regained the mastery over his wandering
thoughts and came awake again. This would never do. It would be
fatal if he went to sleep .... if he went to sleep .... to sleep
.... And then, in an instant, he was intensely awake. Suppose
Cayley never came at all!
Suppose Cayley was so unsuspicious that, as soon as they had gone
upstairs, he had dived down into the passage and set about his
business. Suppose, even now, he was at the pond, dropping into
it that secret of his. Good heavens, what fools they had been!
How could Antony have taken such a risk? Put yourself in
Cayley's place, he had said. But how was it possible? They
weren't Cayley. Cayley was at the pond now. They would never
know what he had dropped into it.
Listen! .... Somebody at the door. He was asleep. Quite
naturally now. Breathe a little more loudly, perhaps. He was
asleep .... The door was opening. He could feel it opening
behind him .... Good Lord, suppose Cayley really was a murderer!
Why, even now he might be--no, he mustn't think of that. If he
thought of that, he would have to turn round. He mustn't turn
round. He was asleep; just peacefully asleep. But why didn't
the door shut? Where was Cayley now? Just behind him? And in
his hand no, he mustn't think of that. He was asleep. But why
didn't the door shut?
The door was shutting. There was a sigh from the sleeper in the
bed, a sigh of relief which escaped him involuntarily. But it
had a very natural sound a deep breath from a heavy sleeper. He
added another one to it to make it seem more natural. The door
was shut.
Bill counted a hundred slowly and then got up. As quickly and as
noiselessly as possible he dressed himself in the dark. He put
the dummy figure in the bed, arranged the clothes so that just
enough but not too much of it was showing, and stood by the door
looking at it. For a casual glance the room was just about light
enough. Then very quietly, very slowly he opened the door. All
was still. There was no light from beneath the door of Cayley's
room. Very quietly, very carefully he crept along the passage to
Antony's room. He opened the door and went in.
Antony was still in bed. Bill walked across to wake him up, and
then stopped rigid, and his heart thumped against his ribs.
There was somebody else in the room.
"All right, Bill," said a whispering voice, and Antony stepped
out from the curtains.
Bill gazed at him without saying anything.
"Rather good, isn't it?" said Antony, coming closer and pointing
to the bed. "Come on; the sooner we get out now, the better."
He led the way out of the window, the silent Bill following him.
They reached the ground safely and noiselessly, went quickly
across the lawn and so, over the fence, into the park. It was
not until they were out of sight of the house that Bill felt it
safe to speak.
"I quite thought it was you in bed," he said.
"I hoped you would. I shall be rather disappointed now if Cayley
doesn't call again. It's a pity to waste it."
"He came all right just now?"
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