Presently a clock on the mantel struck the half after one, and the sound
appeared to awake him. He yawned, glanced at the clock, then took the
lamp from the table and went up to bed. But never so much as a glance
toward the window.
Nick led Chick away, and they returned across the lawn to a point beyond
the stable.
"It rather looks as if Cervera had been here, doesn't it?" inquired
Chick, with a grin.
"Yes," admitted Nick. "Two facts are very significant of it. First, that
Venner is at home on this particular night; and, second, that he should
be asleep in his chair after midnight. It has a fishy look."
"That's my idea, Nick, exactly."
"Yet the way to prove it doesn't appear quite easy."
"Not just yet. But who occupies that house over yonder, where the roof
shows above the trees?"
And Chick pointed to the distant dwelling, little dreaming that the
diamond plant and the gang they sought were established under its
many-gabled roof.
This was not the first night Nick had watched Venner's house since the
diamond robbery, the doubtful character of which he had suspected at the
outset, and incidentally he had informed himself concerning Venner's
neighbors.
"One Dr.
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