At this portentous sight, I don’t mind confessing that my hair fairly bristled with horror.  Fortunately for the preservation of my reason, at that instant the moon, gleaming from behind a cloud, revealed a long ladder planted against Mr. Maitland’s dressing-room window.

In a moment I recovered my self-possession.

“Stay still—­I am going to leave you for a short time,” I whispered.

Irene clung to me with both hands, and expressed a fear that the outraged spirits would tear us in pieces if we moved.

“Bother the spirits!” I replied, in a gruff whisper.  “I swear it will be the worse for you if you make a fuss now!”

She sobbed and wrung her hands, but the time was past for that to have any effect upon me, and, disengaging myself from her grasp, I crept away, hiding as well as I could behind the scattered ruins.

In this manner I contrived almost to reach the foot of the ladder without being discovered.  I had a strange fancy for capturing the thief single-handed and monopolising all the glory of saving the famous diamonds.  Waiting patiently until he had just reached the window, I rushed forward and seized the ladder.

“It’s no use resisting,” I shouted; “if you don’t give up quietly, I’ll shake.”

At this point a second figure stepped out from behind a laurel bush and effectually silenced any further threats by dealing me a heavy blow on the head.

* * * * *

For days I lay insensible from concussion of the brain.  When I was at last pronounced convalescent, Maitland was admitted to my room, being bound by solemn promises not to excite me in any way.  With heartfelt gratitude he shook my hand and thanked me for saving the family diamonds.

“I shall take better care of them in the future,” he said.  “Catch me leaving them about in my dressing-room again.  No, they shall always go straight back into the safe.  Mrs. Maitland was right about that, though it wouldn’t do to confess it.  Precious lucky for me that you heard the burglars and ran out; though I wouldn’t advise you to try and tackle two muscular ruffians by yourself another time.  It was just a chance that one broke his leg when you pulled down the ladder, otherwise they would have finished you off before we arrived on the scene.”

I may here remark that I never thought it necessary to correct the version of the story which I found was already generally accepted.  To this day Maitland firmly believes that I was just getting into bed, when, with supernatural acuteness, I divined the presence of robbers under his dressing-room window, and creeping quietly out attacked them in the rear.

“By-the-bye, is Miss Latouche still staying here?” I presently inquired in as calm a voice as I could command.

“No, she left suddenly the day after your accident.  She complained of feeling upset by the affair, and wished to go home.  We did not press her to stay, as she is liable to nervous attacks which are rather alarming.  Why, that very night, curiously enough, I met her evidently walking in her sleep down the passage as I rushed out at your shout.  She passed quite close to me without making any sign, and was quite unconscious of it next day—­in fact referred with some surprise to having slept all through the row.”