“‘Do you think so?’ the lawyer queried.
“Delaney nodded.
“‘I know Davidson,’ he said; ‘I have known him since boyhood. He is the least likely person in the world to meet with mishap.’
“‘I am glad to hear you say so,’ Mr. Hartney responded. ‘Very glad. I fancied somehow—but there, it must have only been fancy. Being intimately acquainted with Mr. Davidson, you would of course know his voice, and had he really called out, you would certainly have heard him. It is doubtless a mere fancy on my part. Good-night!’
“As Delaney wearily climbed the staircase and peeped through the bannister, his eyes encountered those of the lawyer steadily following him. Dog-tired, he lost no time in undressing, but when he got into bed he found sleep would not come to him. He lay first on one side and then on the other, he tried not to think, he resorted to every possible device, but it was all of no avail. It was the pool, always the pool, the pool and the blood-red tie. He kept seeing them before him, and they continually bade him get out of bed and come to them. At last, unable to resist them any longer, he got up, and after slipping on his clothes, stole noiselessly out into the still and narrow country road.
“When he had gone a few yards, he thought he heard a door shut behind him, but, on turning round and perceiving no one, he attributed it to fancy and went ahead at a brisk pace. At last, to his relief, the pool came in view. There it was, just as he had seen it, moon-kissed and silent, with the huge firs shaking their heads ominously on the far side of it, and the long line of glittering white wall casting its black shadow on the grass and gorse, running away from it, in an apparently interminable line, on the side nearest him. It was a sight he knew he would never forget as long as he lived.
“Approaching the brink of the pool, he walked slowly round it, peering anxiously into the water. Suddenly he gave a start. Something white abruptly bobbed to the surface. He looked closely at it, and fancied he discerned a face. He was about to attach a name to it, when he heard something behind him. Swinging sharply round, he confronted Hartney.
“‘Good heavens! You here!’ he exclaimed. ‘Whatever brought you out at this time of night?’