I
    In those grey days there was one thought, of the many thatoccupied my mind, which brought with it a certain measure ofconsolation. It was the reflection that this state of affairscould not last for ever. The school term was drawing to a close.

　　Soon I should be free from the propinquity which paralysed myefforts to fight. I was resolved that the last day of term shouldend for ever my connection with Sanstead House and all that was init. Mrs Ford must find some other minion. If her happinessdepended on the recovery of the Little Nugget, she must learn todo without happiness, like the rest of the inhabitants of thishorrible world.

　　Meanwhile, however, I held myself to be still on duty. By whattortuous processes of thought I had arrived at the conclusion I donot know, but I considered myself responsible to Audrey for thesafeguarding of the Little Nugget, and no altered relationsbetween us could affect my position. Perhaps mixed up with thisattitude of mind, was the less altruistic wish to foil Smooth Sam.

　　His continued presence at the school was a challenge to me.

　　Sam's behaviour puzzled me. I do not know exactly what I expectedhim to do, but I certainly did not expect him to do nothing. Yetday followed day, and still he made no move. He was the very modelof a butler. But our dealings with one another in London had leftme vigilant, and his inaction did not disarm me. It sprang frompatience, not from any weakening of purpose or despair of success.

　　Sooner or later I knew he would act, swiftly and suddenly, with aplan perfected in every detail.

　　But when he made his attack it was the very simplicity of hismethods that tricked me, and only pure chance defeated him.

　　I have said that it was the custom of the staff of masters atSanstead House School--in other words, of every male adult in thehouse except Mr Fisher himself--to assemble in Mr Abney's studyafter dinner of an evening to drink coffee. It was a ceremony,like most of the ceremonies at an establishment such as a school,where things are run on a schedule, which knew of no variation.

　　Sometimes Mr Abney would leave us immediately after the ceremony,but he never omitted to take his part in it first.

　　On this particular evening, for the first time since the beginningof the term, I was seized with a prejudice against coffee. I hadbeen sleeping badly for several nights, and I decided thatabstention from coffee might remedy this.

　　I waited, for form's sake, till Glossop and Mr Abney had filledtheir cups, then went to my room, where I lay down in the dark towrestle with a more than usually pronounced fit of depressionwhich had descended upon me. Solitude and darkness struck me asthe suitable setting for my thoughts.

　　At this moment Smooth Sam Fisher had no place in my meditations.

　　My mind was not occupied with him at all. When, therefore, thedoor, which had been ajar, began to open slowly, I did not becomeinstantly on the alert. Perhaps it was some sound, barely audible,that aroused me from my torpor and set my blood tingling withanticipation. Perhaps it was the way the door was opening. Anhonest draught does not move a door furtively, in jerks.

　　I sat up noiseless, tense, and alert. And then, very quietly,somebody entered the room.

　　There was only one person in Sanstead House who would enter a roomlike that. I was amused. The impudence of the thing tickled me. Itseemed so foreign to Mr Fisher's usual cautious methods. Thisstrolling in and helping oneself was certainly kidnapping _deluxe_. In the small hours I could have understood it; but atnine o'clock at night, with Glossop, Mr Abney and myself awake andliable to be met at any moment on the stairs, it was absurd. Imarvelled at Smooth Sam's effrontery.

　　I lay still. I imagined that, being in, he would switch on theelectric light. He did, and I greeted him pleasantly.

　　'And what can I do for _you_, Mr Fisher?'

　　For a man who had learned to control himself in difficultsituations he took the shock badly. He uttered a startledexclamation and spun round, open-mouthed.

　　I could not help admiring the quickness with which he recoveredhimself. Almost immediately he was the suave, chatty Sam Fisherwho had unbosomed his theories and dreams to me in the train toLondon.

　　'I quit,' he said pleasantly. 'The episode is closed. I am a manof peace, and I take it that you would not keep on lying quietlyon that bed while I went into the other room and abstracted ouryoung friend? Unless you have changed your mind again, would afifty-fifty offer tempt you?'

　　'Not an inch.'

　　'Just so. I merely asked.'

　　'And how about Mr Abney, in any case? Suppose we met him on thestairs?'

　　'We should not meet him on the stairs,' said Sam confidently. 'Youdid not take coffee tonight, I gather?'

　　'I didn't--no. Why?'

　　He jerked his head resignedly.

　　'Can you beat it! I ask you, young man, could I have foreseenthat, after drinking coffee every night regularly for two months,you would pass it up tonight of all nights? You certainly are myjinx, sonny. You have hung the Indian sign on me all right.'

　　His words had brought light to me.

　　'Did you drug the coffee?'

　　'Did I! I fixed it so that one sip would have an insomnia patientin dreamland before he had time to say "Good night". That stuffRip Van Winkle drank had nothing on my coffee. And all wasted!

　　Well, well!'

　　He turned towards the door.

　　'Shall I leave the light on, or would you prefer it off?'

　　'On please. I might fall asleep in the dark.'

　　'Not you! And, if you did, you would dream that I was there, andwake up. There are moments, young man, when you bring me prettynear to quitting and taking to honest work.'

　　He paused.

　　'But not altogether. I have still a shot or two in my locker. Weshall see what we shall see. I am not dead yet. Wait!'

　　'I will, and some day, when I am walking along Piccadilly, apassing automobile will splash me with mud. A heavily furredplutocrat will stare haughtily at me from the tonneau, and with astart of surprise I shall recognize--'

　　'Stranger things have happened. Be flip while you can, sonny. Youwin so far, but this hoodoo of mine can't last for ever.'

　　He passed from the room with a certain sad dignity. A moment laterhe reappeared.

　　'A thought strikes me,' he said. 'The fifty-fifty proposition doesnot impress you. Would it make things easier if I were to offer mycooperation for a mere quarter of the profit?'

　　'Not in the least.'

　　'It's a handsome offer.'

　　'Wonderfully. I'm afraid I'm not dealing on any terms.'

　　He left the room, only to return once more. His head appeared,staring at me round the door, in a disembodied way, like theCheshire Cat.

　　'You won't say later on I didn't give you your chance?' he saidanxiously.

　　He vanished again, permanently this time. I heard his stepspassing down the stairs.

II

    We had now arrived at the last week of term, at the last days ofthe last week. The holiday spirit was abroad in the school. Amongthe boys it took the form of increased disorderliness. Boys whohad hitherto only made Glossop bellow now made him perspire andtear his hair as well. Boys who had merely spilt ink now brokewindows. The Little Nugget abandoned cigarettes in favour of anold clay pipe which he had found in the stables.

　　As for me, I felt like a spent swimmer who sees the shore almostwithin his reach. Audrey avoided me when she could, and wasfrigidly polite when we met. But I suffered less now. A few moredays, and I should have done with this phase of my life for ever,and Audrey would once more become a memory.

　　Complete quiescence marked the deportment of Mr Fisher duringthese days. He did not attempt to repeat his last effort. Thecoffee came to the study unmixed with alien drugs. Sam, likelightning, did not strike twice in the same place. He had theartist's soul, and disliked patching up bungled work. If he madeanother move, it would, I knew, be on entirely fresh lines.

　　Ignoring the fact that I had had all the luck, I was inclined tobe self-satisfied when I thought of Sam. I had pitted my witsagainst his, and I had won. It was a praiseworthy performance fora man who had done hitherto nothing particular in his life.

　　If all the copybook maxims which had been drilled into me in mychildhood and my early disaster with Audrey had not beensufficient, I ought to have been warned by Sam's advice not totake victory for granted till the fight was over. As Sam had said,his luck would turn sooner or later.

　　One realizes these truths in theory, but the practical applicationof them seldom fails to come as a shock. I received mine on thelast morning but one of the term.

　　Shortly after breakfast a message was brought to me that Mr Abneywould like to see me in his study. I went without any sense ofdisaster to come. Most of the business of the school was discussedin the study after breakfast, and I imagined that the matter hadto do with some detail of the morrow's exodus.

　　I found Mr Abney pacing the room, a look of annoyance on his face.

　　At the desk, her back to me, Audrey was writing. It was part ofher work to take charge of the business correspondence of theestablishment. She did not look round when I came in, nor when MrAbney spoke my name, but went on writing as if I did not exist.

　　There was a touch of embarrassment in Mr Abney's manner, for whichI could not at first account. He was stately, but with the ratherdefensive stateliness which marked his announcements that he wasabout to pop up to London and leave me to do his work. He coughedonce or twice before proceeding to the business of the moment.

　　'Ah, Mr Burns,' he said at length, 'might I ask if your plans forthe holidays, the--ah--earlier part of the holidays are settled?

　　No? ah--excellent.'

　　He produced a letter from the heap of papers on the desk.

　　'Ah--excellent. That simplifies matters considerably. I have noright to ask what I am about to--ah--in fact ask. I have no claimon your time in the holidays. But, in the circumstances, perhapsyou may see your way to doing me a considerable service. I havereceived a letter from Mr Elmer Ford which puts me in a positionof some difficulty. It is not my wish--indeed, it is foreign to mypolicy--to disoblige the parents of the boys who are entrusted tomy--ah--care, and I should like, if possible, to do what Mr Fordasks. It appears that certain business matters call him to thenorth of England for a few days, this rendering it impossible forhim to receive little Ogden tomorrow. It is not my custom tocriticize parents who have paid me the compliment of placing theirsons at the most malleable and important period of their lives, inmy--ah--charge, but I must say that a little longer notice wouldhave been a--in fact, a convenience. But Mr Ford, like so many ofhis countrymen, is what I believe is called a hustler. He does itnow, as the expression is. In short, he wishes to leave littleOgden at the school for the first few days of the holidays, and Ishould be extremely obliged, Mr Burns, if you should find itpossible to stay here and--ah--look after him.'

　　Audrey stopped writing and turned in her chair, the firstintimation she had given that she had heard Mr Abney's remarks.

　　'It really won't be necessary to trouble Mr Burns,' she said,without looking at me. 'I can take care of Ogden very well bymyself.'

　　'In the case of an--ah--ordinary boy, Mrs Sheridan, I should nothesitate to leave you in sole charge as you have very kindlyoffered to stay and help me in this matter. But we must recollectnot only--I speak frankly--not only the peculiar--ah--dispositionof this particular lad, but also the fact that those ruffians whovisited the house that night may possibly seize the opportunity tomake a fresh attack. I should not feel--ah--justified inthrusting so heavy a responsibility upon you.'

　　There was reason in what he said. Audrey made no reply. I heardher pen tapping on the desk and deduced her feelings. I, myself,felt like a prisoner who, having filed through the bars of hiscell, is removed to another on the eve of escape. I had so bracedmyself up to endure till the end of term and no longer that thispostponement of the day of release had a crushing effect.

　　Mr Abney coughed and lowered his ............