No second glance was needed to convince me that he spoke the truth. They were clever imitations of ten-pound notes, but the paper, the despair of the forger, was thick and entirely different to that of the genuine bank-note.
Again I glanced at that beautiful woman’s face with its smile of mingled ecstatic pleasure and bitterness. Her sightless eyes seemed fixed upon me, following me as I moved.
I drew back horrified, shuddering. Her gaze was ghastly.
“It certainly is a most mysterious affair,” I ejaculated again, glancing around the place. “You ought at once to report it.”
“No,” cried my companion quickly. “The discovery must be yours. You must report it, Mr Urwin.”
“Why?”
“Because, as I’ve already told you, I fear to do so on account of the snake.”
I smiled at his curious objection, but an instant later grew serious because of the sharp and sudden ringing of an electric bell somewhere on the ground floor. It was the bell my companion had heard when first knocking at the door.
We both listened for a few moments while the ringing continued, until with sudden resolve I dashed downstairs to ascertain where the bell was. Without difficulty I found it, for there in the hall, revealed by the gas-lamp we had lit, was a telephone instrument with its bell agitated violently.
Without a second’s delay I placed the receiver to my ear and gave the usual signal—