“Nothing but your few ornaments of value. Be quick.”
She raised her lips and kissed him, and then seemed to glide out of the room.
“Yes,” he said, “I have been a fool and an idiot not to have gone before. Curse the fellow: who could it be?” he cried, as he pressed his hand to his injured forehead.
He took out his keys and opened a drawer in a cabinet, taking from it a hammer and cold chisel, and then stood thinking for a few moments before hurrying out, and into a little lobby behind the hall, from which he brought a small carpet-bag.
“That will just hold it,” he said, “and a few of the things that she is sure to have.”
He turned into the dining-room, going softly, as if he were engaged in some nefarious act. Then he picked up the hammer and chisel, and was about to return into the hall, when he heard a low murmur, which seemed to be increasing, and with it the trampling of feet, and shouts of excited men.
“What’s that?” he cried, with his countenance growing ghastly pale; and the cold chisel fell to the floor with a clang.