Thomas takes his pipe out of his mouth.

“Nothing. I only said that some one knocked at my window.”

“You don’t know who?”

“No. And you will never know. I came out, I looked—and there Philipp was sitting at his door. I wasn’t surprised—Philipp often roamed about at night ever since—”

He stops irresolutely. Mariet asks harshly:

“Since when? You said ‘since.’”

Silence. Desfoso replies frankly and heavily:

“Since your Haggart came. Go ahead, Thomas, tell us about it.”

“So I said to him: ‘Why did you knock, Philipp? Do you want anything?’ But he was silent.”

“And he was silent?”