I took out my revolver and put it on the corner of the table.

Holmes had brought a long thin stick, and he put it on the bed beside him. By it he put the box of matches and part of a candle. Then he turned off the lamp, and we were left in darkness.

How shall I ever forget that terrible wait? I could not hear a sound, not even someone breathing, but I knew that Holmes sat open-eyed, a few feet away from me, just as nervous as I was myself. The shutters cut off every single bit of light, and we waited in absolute darkness.

From outside we heard the occasional sound of a night-bird. Once at our window a long cat-like sound, which told us that the cheetah was indeed free for the night. Far away we could hear the bell of the church clock, which rang every quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters of an hour! Twelve o'clock came, and one and two and three. Still we sat waiting silently for whatever might happen.