For as she reached the hall where her coming and going had so startled the midshipman in the darkness, she found that the door was wide open and the window shut.
She looked about bewildered, but there was no sign of the room having been occupied.
“Did I dream it all?” she said in an awe-stricken whisper. “No: the men came to take away the brandy and silk, and I saw them here.”
She pressed her hands to her temples, for the surprise had confused her, and in addition her head ached and throbbed.
“Could I have dreamed it?” she asked herself again. “No, I remember the men coming to fetch away the things and then I found him watching.”
She stood gazing before her, with her puzzled feeling increasing, till a thought struck her.
She saw the men come to fetch the kegs. If she really did see that, the kegs would be gone.
The proof was easy. If the brandy and silk were gone, the door of the vault would be open. If the things were not fetched away, it would be locked up; and if she tapped on the door with her knuckles, there would be a dull sound instead of a hollow, echoing noise.
She ran quickly down, and the door was locked.
She tapped with her knuckles, and the sound indicated that the place was full, for all was dull and heavy and no reverberation in the place.