Then the door was closed again, the cabinet opened, and the cash-box taken from one of the drawers, over which the young man sat for quite half an hour, counting notes and calculating, before replacing the contents. "I don't like to leave it here," he said thoughtfully. "It has been safe so far, but thieves might break through and steal, and that would be awkward. Let's think it out over a cigar." He took the spirit-stand from the closet again, poured out a goodly portion of whiskey into a Venice glass, and after mildly lowering its strength with water, took a deep draught before lighting a choice cigar, whose pleasant perfume soon pervaded the room. "Notes, notes. Gold so much better, but awkward to carry," he muttered, and then burst into an unpleasant laugh. "Shall I--shan't I? Ten thousand safe, better than a hundred thousand doubtful, and who knows what Master Saul might do." A strange silence fell upon the place--a silence which seemed painful, for as a rule the low hollow rumble of market-wagons echoed from the high brick wall of The Mynns the night through. That silence was broken by the smoker's voice, as he said in a low, angry whisper: "Saul Harrington is a coward and a cur. He dares nothing--nothing. A snarling dog who fears to bite. Why, if I had been in his place-- "Well, never mind," he said after a pause. "But about this money--a bird in the hand is worth too in the bush, even if one is Gertrude--a pretty little innocent. Yes, that will be the best plan after all." He rose hastily, took a Bradshaw from the shelf, and rapidly turned over the leaves; but as he did so the lamp went out. CHAPTER TWENTY. THE MASTER IS LATE. "Hadn't we better begin breakfast. Mr Hampton?" said Gertrude. "Oh, don't hurry, my dear. Mr Hampton is not going to town by the early train. What a lovely morning! Perhaps he has gone for a walk." The ladies walked to the window and Mr Hampton turned his newspaper and coughed loudly, as he glanced at the breakfast-table, afterwards making a wry face as he felt sundry twinges suggestive of Nature's demands for food. A quarter of an hour slipped by, and then the old housekeeper, who kept to the same simple old fashion adopted by her late master, whose household had consisted of Denton, a housemaid, cook, and gardener, entered the dining-room. "Shall I bring up the ham, Miss Gertrude?" "Perhaps you had better go and knock at Mr Harrington's door. He may have dropped asleep again." The old woman went out, and at the end of five minutes she came back, looking pale and scared. "I--I can't make him hear, miss," she said. "Do you think he is ill?" "Gone for a walk," said the old lawyer sharply. "I--I don't think he has gone out, sir," faltered the old lady. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind going up to his room." "And be told to mind my own business--eh? Thanks; no." He gave the newspaper a vicious shake, and a blow in the middle to double it up for a fresh reading.