"Then it won't be necessary for me to put it down," answered the nephew, but he took good care to remember the combination, nevertheless.
It was now time for Mark Horton to retire, and, the wine having made him drowsy, he soon forgot his anger against Gertrude and went to sleep.
When Homer Bulson went below he paused in the hallway and glanced through the doorway into the library.
He saw that Gertrude had left the apartment and that it was empty.
None of the servants were about, and the housekeeper, an elderly lady, was also nowhere to be seen.
"I wonder if I dare do it so soon?" he muttered to himself. Then he shut his teeth hard. "I must do something! I have used up my last dollar, and I can't go around empty-handed. Uncle Mark will never grow strong enough to know."
Going to the front door he opened it, then slammed it violently and made a noise as if he was descending the steps. Then he closed the door with care and stole back into the gloom of the library. It was now after midnight, a fitting time for the desperate deed this misguided young man had undertaken.