To reach it Mr. Gryce had to pass several persons standing where fate had fixed them among the statuary grouped about the court, and had his attention been less engrossed by what he expected to discover above, he would have been deeply interested in noting how these persons, or most of them at least, had so thoroughly accepted the situation that they had taken the exact position and the exact attitude of the moment preceding the alarm.  Those who were admiring the great torsos or carved chariots of the ancients, made a show of admiring them still.  The man or woman who had been going in an easterly direction, faced east; and those who had been on the point of entering certain rooms, stood halting in the doorways with their backs to the court.

Unfortunately, he did not take note of all this, or give the poor pawns thus parading for his purpose more than a cursory glance.  When he did think, which was when he was halfway up the staircase, it was to look back upon a changed scene.  For with his going, interest had flagged and the tableau lost its pointedness.  No one had ventured as yet to leave his place, but all had turned their faces his way, and on many of these faces could be seen signs of fatigue if not of absolute impatience.  He had ordered them to stand and they had stood, but to be left there while he went above was certainly trying.  The one spot which held the interest was in the southern gallery.  If they could only follow him there——­

All this was to be seen in their faces, and possibly the cunning old man read it there; but if he did, it was to ask himself if their conclusions were quite correct.  The locale of interest had shifted in the last half hour; and while most of these people believed him to be searching for the witness who could tell him what had occurred in the death gallery, he really was hunting for one who could add to his knowledge of what had happened in the opposite one.  And this witness might not be found in the gallery, or even on the upper floor.  It was well among the probabilities that there might be among the various persons he saw posing in the court below some who by an upward look might take in a part of if not the whole broad sweep of that huge square of tapestry upon which his thoughts were centered.  It was for him to make a note of these persons.  A diagram of the court as it looked to him at that moment is shown for your enlightenment.

[Illustration:  1—­Ephraim Short. 2—­Mrs. Lynch. 3—­Director Roberts. 4—­Door-man. 5—­Copyist. 6—­Mrs. Alice Lee. 7-8—­Mr. and Mrs. Draper. 9—­Mr. Coit. 10—­Mr. Simpson. 11—­Prof.  Turnbull. 12—­Second Door-man. 13—­Miss Hunsicker. 14—­Attendant. 15—­Miss Blake. 16—­Officer.]

Sixteen persons!  Ten in view from the steps and six not.  Of the sixteen, only the following seemed to afford any excuse for future interrogation:  Numbers Two, Six, Ten, Seven, Eight and Thirteen.  Making a mental note of these, during which operation the poor unfortunates who had just been considering themselves as quite out of the game revived in a startling manner under his eye, he proceeded on his way.