"Just so," remarked my visitor, "that's exactly where it is; I came in at the window."
"The window?" I repeated.
"Yes, the window. I couldn't sleep, so took a stroll up and down the balconies, and when I returned to my room, as I thought, I came in here by mistake."
The excuse was plausible, but I didn't believe a word of it. I was in a dilemma, and sat scratching my head. I could not prove that the man was lying, and therefore had to take his word.
"Very well, then," I said in a compromising tone, "having made the mistake, and it being now nearly five, perhaps you will be able to find your way back to your room and go to sleep."
I thought I was putting the request in as polite a manner as possible, and I expected him to move off at once.
He did nothing of the kind. With a quick movement of his hand to his hip, he produced a revolver and covered me with it.
"Where's that key?" he asked.
He took my breath away for a few moments and I couldn't answer him, then I regained my presence of mind.
"What key?" I asked, though I had a pretty shrewd idea as to the key he wanted.