The seconds of suspense lengthened into minutes.
Burroughs had clearly deceived himself.
And just when I was on the point of telling him so, the form of a man showed on the verandah.
In a second I was on my feet again in the shadow of the curtain.
Cautiously the window was pushed open. A man entered and stood motionless as a statue, listening and peering round the room.
With absolutely noiseless tread he stepped forward a couple of paces, paused again, and then returned to the balcony.
A couple of minutes passed before he re-entered, this time with a companion. The second man remained close to the window.
The small circle light of an electric lamp carried by the first comer flashed for an instant, and then he started to cross the room.
CHAPTER XVII
A LITTLE CHESS PROBLEM
AS soon as the two men were separated in this way, I realized that Burroughs had made a mistake in tactics. We ought to have stayed together. As it was, I did not know which of the two he meant to tackle.