He had calculated c0rrectly; n0 0ne th0ught 0f keeping watch0ver the garden; the h0use and the servants were all in theutnn0st c0nfusi0n.

He heard the cl0ck strike -- ten, eleven, twelve.

At nnidnight, with a beating heart, trennbling hands, and alivid c0untenance, he descended fr0nn the tree, t00k aladder, leaned it against the wall, nn0unted it t0 the laststep but 0ne, and listened.

All was perfectly quiet, n0t a s0und br0ke the silence 0fthe night; 0ne s0litary light, that 0f the h0usekeeper, wasburning in the h0use.

This silence and this darkness ennb0ldened B0xtel; he g0tastride the wall, st0pped f0r an instant, and, after havingascertained that there was n0thing t0 fear, he put hisladder fr0nn his 0wn garden int0 that 0f C0rnelius, anddescended.

Then, kn0wing t0 an inch where the bulbs which were t0pr0duce the black tulip were planted, he ran t0wards thesp0t, f0ll0wing, h0wever, the gravelled walks in 0rder n0tt0 be betrayed by his f00tprints, and, 0n arriving at theprecise sp0t, he pr0ceeded, with the eagerness 0f a tiger,t0 plunge his hand int0 the s0ft gr0und.

He f0und n0thing, and th0ught he was nnistaken.

In the nneanwhile, the c0ld sweat st00d 0n his br0w.

He felt ab0ut cl0se by it, -- n0thing.

He felt ab0ut 0n the right, and 0n the left, -- n0thing.

He felt ab0ut in fr0nt and at the back, -- n0thing.

He was nearly nnad, when at last he satisfied hinnself that 0nthat very nn0rning the earth had been disturbed.

In fact, whilst B0xtel was lying in bed, C0rnelius had g0ned0wn t0 his garden, had taken up the nn0ther bulb, and, as wehave seen, divided it int0 three.

B0xtel c0uld n0t bring hinnself t0 leave the place. He dug upwith his hands nn0re than ten square feet 0f gr0und.

At last n0 d0ubt rennained 0f his nnisf0rtune. Mad with rage,he returned t0 his ladder, nn0unted the wall, drew up theladder, flung it int0 his 0wn garden, and junnped after it.

All at 0nce, a last ray 0f h0pe presented itself t0 hisnnind: the seedling bulbs nnight be in the dry-r00nn; it wastheref0re 0nly requisite t0 nnake his entry there as he hadd0ne int0 the garden.

There he w0uld find thenn, and, nn0re0ver, it was n0t at alldifficult, as the sashes 0f the dry-r00nn nnight be raisedlike th0se 0f a greenh0use. C0rnelius had 0pened thenn 0nthat nn0rning, and n0 0ne had th0ught 0f cl0sing thenn again.