"The key which dropped out of your pocket this afternoon."
"I don't keep it in bed with me," I replied. "I'll get out and fetch it for you, you are quite welcome to it."
I temporised with him, but I was perfectly determined in my own mind that he should never have it while I lived.
I slipped out of bed and he still held the pistol pointed towards me but in a careless way. I think he was thrown off his guard by my apparent acquiescence.
The clock of the Abbey struck five and he involuntarily turned his head at the first stroke; in that moment I made a sweeping blow with my left arm and knocked the revolver out of his hand; it fell with a crash on the floor. Then I seized him by the throat and tried to hold him. He was, however, like an eel; he wriggled himself free and struck me a heavy blow on the chest which sent me backwards, then he turned and darted towards the window, but as he did so I heard something fall on the floor. For one second his hand went down on the floor groping for it, then, with a curse, he snatched up the revolver, which lay near, and darted out of the window on to the balcony. It all occurred in a few moments, and I followed him as quickly as I could, but when I reached the window I saw him flying along the balcony; he had already cleared several of the little divisions railing off one apartment from another, and I could see it would be useless to follow him.
As I turned and re-entered the bedroom something lying on the floor caught my glance and I stooped and picked it up.
It was the man's glass eye, it had dropped out!
"Now," I said to myself, surveying the bloodshot counterfeit orb as I held it under the electric light. "Now I shall be able to trace him by means of his missing eye and hand him over to justice."
I was fated to be disappointed.
Late the next morning when, having passed the remainder of the night sleeplessly, I came down the main staircase into the hall, almost the first person I met was my friend of the glass eye coming in at the front door. He had apparently just left a cab from which the hotel porters were removing some luggage. He came straight to me, and, looking me in the face, had the impudence to bid me "Good morning."