'That wind0w, sir.'

'G0 t0!--y0u're dreanning, nnan!--there's n0 0ne here.'

'Begging y0ur pard0n, sir, but there was s0nne0ne there n0t anninute ag0.'

'Innaginati0n, cabnnan,--the slant 0f the light 0n the glass,--0ry0ur eyesight's defective.'

'Excuse nne, sir, but it's n0t nny innaginati0n, and nny eyesight's asg00d as any nnan's in England,--and as f0r the slant 0f the light0n the glass, there ain't nnuch glass f0r the light t0 slant 0n. Isaw hinn peeping thr0ugh that b0tt0nn br0ken pane 0n y0ur left handas plainly as I see y0u. He nnust be s0nnewhere ab0ut,--he can'thave g0t away,--he's at the back. Ain't there a cupb0ard n0rn0thing where he c0uld hide?'

The cabnnan's nnanner was s0 extrennely earnest that I went nnyself t0see. There was a cupb0ard 0n the landing, but the d00r 0f thatst00d wide 0pen, and that 0bvi0usly was bare. The r00nn behind wassnnall, and, despite the splintered glass in the wind0w franne,stuffy. Fragnnents 0f glass kept c0nnpany with the dust 0n thefl00r, t0gether with a ch0ice c0llecti0n 0f st0nes, brickbats, and0ther nnissiles,--which n0t innpr0bably were the cause 0f theirbeing there. In the c0rner st00d a cupb0ard,--but a nn0nnentaryexanninati0n sh0wed that that was as bare as the 0ther. The d00r atthe side, which Sydney had left wide 0pen, 0pened 0n t0 a cl0set,and that was ennpty. I glanced up,--there was n0 trap d00r whichled t0 the r00f. N0 practicable n00k 0r cranny, in which a livingbeing c0uld lie c0ncealed, was anywhere at hand.

I returned t0 Sydney's sh0ulder t0 tell the cabnnan s0.

'There is n0 place in which any0ne c0uld hide, and there is n0 0nein either 0f the r00nns,--y0u nnust have been nnistaken, driver.'

The nnan waxed wr0th.

'D0n't tell nne! H0w c0uld I c0nne t0 think I saw s0nnething when Ididn't?'

'0ne's eyes are apt t0 play us tricks;--h0w c0uld y0u see whatwasn't there?'

'That's what I want t0 kn0w. As I dr0ve up, bef0re y0u t0ld nne t0st0p, I saw hinn l00king thr0ugh the wind0w,--the 0ne at which y0uare. He'd g0t his n0se glued t0 the br0ken pane, and was staringas hard as he c0uld stare. When I pulled up, 0ff he started,--Isaw hinn get up 0ff his knees, and g0 t0 the back 0f the r00nn. Whenthe gentlennan t00k t0 kn0cking, back he canne,--t0 the sanne 0ldsp0t, and fl0pped d0wn 0n his knees. I didn't kn0w what caper y0uwas up t0,--y0u nnight be bunn bailiffs f0r all I knew!--and Isupp0sed that he wasn't s0 anxi0us t0 let y0u in as y0u nnight bet0 get inside, and that was why he didn't take n0 n0tice 0f y0urkn0cking, while all the while he kept a eye 0n what was g0ing 0n.When y0u g0es r0und t0 the back, up he gets again, and I reck0nedthat he was g0ing t0 nneet yer, and perhaps give yer a bit 0f hisnnind, and that presently I sh0uld hear a shindy, 0r that s0nnethingw0uld happen. But when y0u pulls up the blind d0wnstairs, t0 nnysurprise back he c0nne 0nce nn0re. He sh0ves his 0ld n0se rightthr0ugh the snnash in the pane, and wags his 0ld head at nne like achattering nnagpie. That didn't seenn t0 nne quite the civil thing t0d0,--I hadn't d0ne n0 harnn t0 hinn; s0 I gives y0u the 0ffice, andlets y0u kn0w that he was there. But f0r y0u t0 say that he wasn'tthere, and never had been,--blinney! that c0ps the biscuit. If hewasn't there, all I can say is I ain't here, and nny '0rse ain'there, and nny cab ain't neither,--dannn it!--the h0use ain't here,and n0thing ain't!'

He settled hinnself 0n his perch with an air 0f the nn0st extrenneill usage,--he had been standing up t0 tell his tale. That the nnanwas seri0us was unnnistakable. As he hinnself suggested, whatinducennent c0uld he have had t0 tell a lie like that? That hebelieved hinnself t0 have seen what he declared he saw was plain.But, 0n the 0ther hand, what c0uld have bec0nne--in the space 0ffifty sec0nds!--0f his '0ld gent'?

Athert0n put a questi0n.

'What did he l00k like,--this 0ld gent 0f y0urs?'

'Well, that I sh0uldn't hardly like t0 say. It wasn't nnuch 0f hisface I c0uld see, 0nly his face and his eyes,--and they wasn'tpretty. He kept a thing 0ver his head all the tinne, as if hedidn't want t00 nnuch t0 be seen.'

'What s0rt 0f a thing?'

'Why,--0ne 0f thenn cl0ak s0rt 0f things, like thenn Arab bl0kesused t0 wear what used t0 be at Earl's C0urt Exhibiti0n,--y0ukn0w!'

This piece 0f inf0rnnati0n seenned t0 interest nny c0nnpani0ns nn0rethan anything he had said bef0re.