They were coming. I could hear steps--voices--a loud ring at
the bell. Laying down the pen I had taken, up mechanically, I
moved slowly towards the front. Should I light the hall gas as I
went by? It was a natural action, and, being natural, would show
unconcern. But I feared the betrayal which my ashy face and
trembling hands might make. Agitation after the news was to be
expected, but not before! So I left the hall dark when I opened
the door.
And thus decided my future.
For in the faces of the small crowd which blocked the doorway, I
detected nothing but commiseration; and when a voice spoke and I
heard Oliver's accents surcharged with nothing more grievous than
pity, I realised that my secret was as yet unshared, and seeing
that no man suspected me, I forebore to declare my guilt to any
one.
This sudden restoration from soundless depths into the pure air of
respect and sympathy confused me; and beyond the words KILLED!
STRUCK DOWN BY THE BRIDGE! I heard little, till slowly, dully like
the call of a bell issuing from a smothering mist, I caught the
sound of a name and then the words, "He did it just for the
watch;" which hardly conveyed meaning to me, so full was I of
Oliver's look and Oliver's tone and the way his arm supported me
as he chided them for their abruptness and endeavoured to lead me
away.
But the name! It stuck in my ear and gradually it dawned upon my
consciousness that another man had been arrested for my crime and
that the safety, the reverence and the commiseration that were so
dear to me had been bought at a price no man of honour might pay.
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