“I waited as it seemed to me for at least an hour; but I had no watch, and my impatience was such that I dare say it really was little more than a quarter of that time.  Then I rose, removed my shoes, took my knife, and having opened the panel, slipped silently through.  It was not more than thirty feet that I had to go, but I went inch by inch, for the old rotten boards snapped like breaking twigs if a sudden weight was placed upon them.  It was, of course, pitch dark, and very, very slowly I felt my way along.  At last I saw a yellow seam of light glimmering in front of me, and I knew that it came from the other panel.  I was too soon, then, since he had not extinguished his candles.  I had waited many months, and I could afford to wait another hour, for I did not wish to do anything precipitately or in a hurry.

“It was very necessary to move silently now, since I was within a few feet of my man, with only the thin wooden partition between.  Age had warped and cracked the boards, so that when I had at last very stealthily crept my way as far as the sliding-panel, I found that I could, without any difficulty, see into the room.  Captain Barrington was standing by the dressing-table with his coat and vest off.  A large pile of sovereigns, and several slips of paper were lying before him, and he was counting over his gambling gains.  His face was flushed, and he was heavy from want of sleep and from wine.  It rejoiced me to see it, for it meant that his slumber would be deep, and that all would be made easy for me.

“I was still watching him, when of a sudden I saw him start, and a terrible expression come upon his face.  For an instant my heart stood still, for I feared that he had in some way divined my presence.  And then I heard the voice of my master within.  I could not see the door by which he had entered, nor could I see him where he stood, but I heard all that he had to say.  As I watched the captain’s face flush fiery-red, and then turn to a livid white as he listened to those bitter words which told him of his infamy, my revenge was sweeter—­far sweeter—­than my most pleasant dreams had ever pictured it.  I saw my master approach the dressing-table, hold the papers in the flame of the candle, throw their charred ashes into the grate, and sweep the golden pieces into a small brown canvas bag.  Then, as he turned to leave the room, the captain seized him by the wrist, imploring him, by the memory of their mother, to have mercy upon him; and I loved my master as I saw him drag his sleeve from the grasp of the clutching fingers, and leave the stricken wretch grovelling upon the floor.

“And now I was left with a difficult point to settle, for it was hard for me to say whether it was better that I should do that which I had come for, or whether, by holding this man’s guilty secret, I might not have in my hand a keener and more deadly weapon than my master’s hunting-knife.  I was sure that Lord Avon could not and would not expose him.  I knew your sense of family pride too well, my lord, and I was certain that his secret was safe in your hands.  But I both could and would; and then, when his life had been blasted, and he had been hounded from his regiment and from his clubs, it would be time, perhaps, for me to deal in some other way with him.”