"Well, you'd better inform the police of your suspicions, and let them act as they think proper. I've seen the spot where your friend discovered her, and certainly it is just the spot where an assassin might lie in wait, commit a crime, and then escape into the street unseen. My advice is that you should inform the police, and let them make inquiries. I only make one stipulation, and that is that no question must be asked of her at present--either by you, or by any one else. If you'll allow me I'll send down a qualified nurse, whom I can trust to carry out my instructions--for I presume you intend that she should remain here in your chambers until she is fit to be removed?" "Certainly," I answered eagerly. "I leave all to you, doctor; only bring her back to me." "I will do my utmost," he assured me. "It is a grave case, a very grave one indeed," he added, with his eyes fixed upon the inanimate form; "but I have every hope that we shall save her by care and attention. I'll go back to the surgery, get some dressing for the wound, and send at once for the nurse. No time must be lost." "And you think I ought to inform the police?" I asked. "As you think fit," the doctor responded. "You say you have a suspicion of the identity of the would-be assassin. Surely you will not let him go unpunished?" "No!" I cried in fierce resolution. "He shall not go unpunished." But on reflection an instant later it occurred to me that Muriel herself could tell us who had attacked her, therefore it would be best to await in patience her return to health. The doctor left to obtain his instruments and bandages, while Bryant, Simes, and myself watched almost in silence at her bedside. The kind-hearted old doctor before he went, however, asked us to leave the room for a few minutes, and when we returned we found he had taken off her outer clothing, improvised a temporary bandage, and placed her comfortably in bed, where she now lay quite still, and to all appearances asleep. From time to time in my anxiety I bent with my hand glass placed close to her mouth to reassure myself that she was still breathing. It became slightly clouded each time, and that gave me the utmost satisfaction and confidence. After a quarter of an hour the old man returned, while a little later the nurse, in her neat grey uniform, was in the room, attending to her patient, quickly and silently, and assisting the doctor to cleanse and bandage the wound with a dexterity which had been acquired by long acquaintance with surgical cases. With Bryant I retired into the sitting-room while these operations were in progress, and when I again entered my bedroom I found the lights lowered and the nurse calmly sitting by Muriel's side. Then the doctor assured me that she would be quite right for three hours, and that during the night he would look in again; and with this parting re-assurance he left, accompanied out by Bryant.