Words failed me altogether. At that we stood in the passage for some moments in silence; then:
"We have got to risk it," said Gatton, "if my theory is to be put to the test"
"Risk it?"
"Oh! I can assure you of the risk," he declared. "It will be touch-and-go. Are you game?"
"Well," I said, laughing in a very forced fashion, "this has been a night of such intense surprises that I think I can survive one more."
"Very well," replied the Inspector; and there was something strange in hearing the familiar voice and dimly discerning in the reflected moonlight, which shone in at a window further along the passage, the unfamiliar figure before me.
"What have we to do?"
"We have to take a chance of sudden death!" he answered, "but we will minimize it as much as possible."
Seeing me about to give voice to one of the many questions which literally burned upon my tongue:
"Explanations can come later," said he. "Where can I find a candle?"