Besides, Villum had slipped into the room and shoved under that cot for the purpose of playing dictograph, and he was stubborn enough to want to stick to his purpose.
A number of guesses as to who the man was, and why he was there, followed Villum’s surmise that he was the Hindu murderer; any one of them was bad enough, if true.
The man might be a common burglar, who had found a chance to hide there, and later meant to connect with Dickey’s safe; if so, he was no doubt armed with an automatic, which he would use, if cornered. This seemed a very reasonable solution.
But Villum never hunted for reasonable solutions, when others could be had; so the one which appealed to his mind most was that the man under the cot with him was not only the Hindu murderer, but that this cot and room were his usual and customary hiding places; which indicated that Dickey knew he was there, and received pay for sheltering him.
Kess and his friends had wondered where the Hindu could keep himself so that he would be safe and out of sight while he matured his plans. Kess’ one wild guess, and until now he could make no other, was that the Hindu hid in Kadir Dhin’s Oriental trunk. He thought he saw now that this guess was wrong.
“Aber I hear all vot iss saidt, unt am kilt as I am getting oudt uff here mit idt—ach, dot vill be awvul!” Villum said to himself, as if groaning mentally. “Yedt anodder fighdt mighdt come petween dhis Hindu unt der vellers in der room, unt vunce again I couldt gedt me by. So I vill vaidt, pecause I musdt, unt vill seen vot I hear.”
It was a long and trying wait that followed, and it seemed much longer than it was. Soon all chance of gaining the barracks before they were closed for the night had passed; but, then, Villum had counted on not being able to return to the barracks.
Under the cot, pressed close against the wall, the man waited as silently as Villum. And, however much or little he understood of the meaning of Villum’s action, he must have considered that he found himself in a most singular position.