“Ah!”
No literary sign can give the exact sound of the hoarse sigh which escaped from Stratton as his friend said those last words excitedly: and then, as if spurred by his imagination:
“It’s as likely as can be. Mal, old fellow, as I said before, history does repeat itself. He has been missing a long time. Mrs Brade is very uneasy. You have been a great deal away. I tell you what it is—it’s an act of duty. I’ll fetch up the police, and we’ll break in and see.”
As the words left Guest’s lips he started, for there was a sudden flash; then, for a moment, his eyes were dazzled; the next he was in profound darkness.
Stratton’s fingers, unseen by his friend, had closed upon and turned the button of the lamp.
Chapter Thirty Four.
A startling Situation.
Three steps back were sufficient—three steps taken suddenly in that profound darkness were enough, in the excitement of the moment, to make Guest completely lose what a nautical man would call “his bearings;” and, startled, as well as puzzled, he waited, in utter ignorance of his position in the room, for what was to come next.