ift and sudden movement might come ere
I was done with this adventure, and those bells might easily be the
undoing of me. So back I went to the surprise and infinite dismay
of Mariani until I had whispered in his ear the reason. We retreated
together to the corridor, and there, with his help, I removed my
jangling headgear, which I left him to restore to my chamber.

Whilst he went upon that errand I returned once more on mine, and this
time I gained the foot of the stairs without mishap, and stood in the
hall. Ramiro's back was towards me. On my right stood the tall buffet
from which the boy had fetched him wine that evening; this I marked out
as the cover to which I must fly in case of need.

A second I stood hesitating, still considering my course; then I went
softly forward, my feet making no sound in the rushes of the floor. I
had covered half the distance, and, growing bolder, I was advancing more
swiftly and with less caution, when suddenly my knee came in contact
with a three-legged stool that had been carelessly left where none would
have suspected it. The blow may have hurt afterwards, indeed, I was
conscious of a soreness at the knee; but at the moment I had no thought
or care for physical pain. The bench went over with a crash, and for all
that the rushes may have deadened in part the sound of its fall, to my
nervous ear it boomed like the report of a cannon through the stillness
of the place.

I turned cold as ice, and the sweat of fear sprang out to moisten
me from head to foot. Instantly I dropped on all fours, lest Ramiro,
awaking suddenly, should turn; and I waited for the least sign that
should render advisable my seeking the cover of the buffet. In the
gallery above I could picture old Mariani clenching his teeth at the
noise, his knees knocking together, and his face white with horror; for
Ramiro's snoring had abruptly ceased. It came to an end with a choking
catch of the breath, and I looked to see him raise his head and start up
to ascertain what it was that had aroused him. But he never stirred,
and for all that he no longer snored, his breathing continued heavy and
regular, so that I was cheered by the assurance that I had but disturbed
his slumber, not dispelled it.

Yet, since I had disturbed and lightened it, a greater precaution was
now necessary, and I waited there for some ten minutes maybe, a period
that must have proved a very eternity to the old man upstairs. At last I
had the reward