“Heavens!” cried Raikes, aghast at the prospect of the extended effort which this would impose upon him. “Is it necessary?”
“I would not be surprised,” replied Gratz. “At any rate, if your story is more mysterious than the predicament which confronts us, it must be worth hearing.”
With an ill grace, after making the elaborate arrangements which usually precede a protracted campaign, Raikes hastened to comply with the request of the detective.
As he proceeded, he was startled to note, now that he made his first conscious effort to review the weird recital of the Sepoy, just how vividly the incidents presented themselves.
Aside from the phraseology, he recounted, in precise order, the incredible incidents, and by the time he had reached the climax in the first division of his effort his hearers were interested enough to hasten through a light meal, which, at the suggestion of Gratz, had been sent to the room they occupied.
With something of the calculation of the Sepoy, or remembering, perhaps, the effect which his abrupt terminations had upon him, Raikes contrived his irritating pauses with remorseless enjoyment and the ostensible purpose of stimulating his sorely taxed energies with draughts of brandy and water.
In this way Raikes consumed the time until the hour of eleven, which enabled him to develop the narrative to the point at which the Sepoy had concluded.
“And now,” exclaimed Raikes with unmistakable relief, as he signified that his hearers were in possession of all he knew, “and now will you kindly tell me what you expect to gain by this tedious task you have imposed upon me?”
Gratz did not reply at once, but after a few moments of reflection, he asked, apparently ignoring the question of the narrator: “Will you give me the keys of this building you occupy, and indicate to me the means of rummaging about the other building on the opposite side of the wall?”
“If it is necessary,” replied Raikes with grudging assent.