Sanders burst out laughing.
“Exactly, and I suppose the picture frame was empty,” he looked round in surprise. No one else had laughed.
“I was too frightened to look, sir,” he said.
“What happened then?” said Collins in a soothing tone.
“I don’t quite know, sir, I think I must have turned faint. I believe he turned and looked at me, and when I looked again he was gone.”
“But why were you so frightened?” said Collins.
“It was a warning, sir, I am sure of that. He came to tell me my time is up. Well, I suppose we all have to go sometime, and I have tried to do my duty.”
Collins cast a quick glance round the room. Sanders was frankly sceptical. Mrs. Allery and her daughter were looking scared. The Aunt was not there. Mabel was dead white, and her eyes nearly closed; but Collins saw one quick look pass between her and Allery, though the face of the old lawyer was inscrutable.
There was a silence in the room.
Collins went to the old servant with a quick movement and took his hand.