For a moment Holmes was just as surprised as I was. I felt his hand - he was holding my wrist very tightly. Then he laughed quietly and put his lips near my ear.

"Isn't this a lovely house?" he whispered to me. "That is the baboon."

I had forgotten that the doctor had a baboon. He also had a cheetah. If the cheetah was in the garden, it might attack us at any moment. Holmes and I took off our shoes and we climbed into the bedroom. When I was inside the room, I felt happier and safe from the cheetah. Holmes very quietly closed the shutters, and moved the lamp onto the table. Then he looked around the room. Everything was same as we had seen it in the daytime. Holmes came up to me and put his hands to my ear. He spoke so softly that it very hard to understand what he said:

"We can't make even a little sound. We must sit without light, or the Doctor will see it through the ventilator."

I nodded so that Holmes could see that I had heard him.

"Do not go to sleep; if you sleep, maybe you will die. Keep your pistol ready - I think we may need it. I will sit on the side of the bed. You sit in that chair."