Victor drew close to the
table, and listened for some moments to the breathing of the sleeper.
Then he took a small bottle from his pocket, and dropped a few globules
of some colourless liquid into the empty glass. Having done this, he
withdrew from the apartment as silently as he had entered it. Twelve
o'clock struck as he was leaving the terrace.
"So," he muttered, "it is little more than three-quarters of an hour
since I left the servants' hall. It would not be difficult to prove an
_alibi_, with the help of a blundering village innkeeper."
He did not attempt to leave the castle by the court-yard, which he knew
would be locked by this time. He had made himself acquainted with all
the ins and outs of the place, and had possessed himself of a key
belonging to one of the garden gates. Through this gate he passed out
into the park, climbed a low fence, and made his way into Raynham
village, where the landlord of the "Hen and Chickens" was just closing
his doors.
"I have been told by the castle servants that you can give me a bed,"
he said.
The landlord, who was always delighted to oblige his patrons in Sir
Oswald's servants' hall and stables, declared himself ready to give the
traveller the best accommodation his house could afford.
"It's late, sir," he said; "but we'll manage to make things comfortable
for you."
So that night the surgeon slept in the village of Raynham.
Pages:
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237