"Like you, Mr. Leigh! Not he! Not a bit like you! Stop, are you trying if I am speaking the truth?" Williams became suddenly suspicious, ready to resent any imputation upon his word.
"No, no, no. My dear Williams. Nothing of the kind, I assure you. Only I am most desirous to know all facts, all you saw. You know how well I have guarded the secrets of my great clock. I am most anxious that no one but this man who wound the clock for me last night should learn anything about it. Suppose he let several people into the room, I should have all my secrets pried into and made common property."
"And can't he tell everybody if he cares to betray you?"
"Not very well. He cannot. He is deaf and dumb, and can't write," with a triumphant smile. "Describe what the man you saw was like."
"Well, you are a wonderful man, Mr. Leigh. He was a broad-shouldered big man with fair hair and beard. He wore a round hat the whole time, and, like you, sat very steady when he was not winding up.
"That's he! That's he to the life! I told him how to sit. I showed him how to sit. And tell me, when closing time came he stood up and wriggled out of the clock?"
"I did not see. We were shut a minute before half-past twelve by my own watch. I kept my eyes on him until half-past twelve. He must have turned out the light before he got up, for the gas went out at half-past twelve, just as he stopped working the lever."
"Yes. And did you watch a while after, to see there was no danger of fire?"
"Yes, a minute or two, but all kept dark and I knew he was gone."
"Hah! Thank you, very much, Williams. I am very, very much obliged to you."