Atlas Nightshade

Day 78

When the man had fairly gone, we three crossed the street and knocked at

the door. It was immediately opened by Quincey Morris, beside whom stood

Lord Godalming lighting a cigar.

"The place smells so vilely," said the latter as we came in. It did

indeed smell vilely--like the old chapel at Carfax--and with our

previous experience it was plain to us that the Count had been using the

place pretty freely. We moved to explore the house, all keeping together

in case of attack; for we knew we had a strong and wily enemy to deal

with, and as yet we did not know whether the Count might not be in the

house. In the dining-room, which lay at the back of the hall, we found

eight boxes of earth. Eight boxes only out of the nine, which we sought!

Our work was not over, and would never be until we should have found the

missing box. First we opened the shutters of the window which looked out

across a narrow stone-flagged yard at the blank face of a stable,

pointed to look like the front of a miniature house. There were no

windows in it, so we were not afraid of being over-looked. We did not

lose any time in examining the chests. With the tools which we had

brought with us we opened them, one by one, and treated them as we had

treated those others in the old chapel. It was evident to us that the

Count was not at present in the house, and we proceeded to search for

any of his effects.

After a cursory glance at the rest of the rooms, from basement to attic,

we came to the conclusion that the dining-room contained any effects

which might belong to the Count; and so we proceeded to minutely examine

them. They lay in a sort of orderly disorder on the great dining-room

table. There were title deeds of the Piccadilly house in a great bundle;

deeds of the purchase of the houses at Mile End and Bermondsey;

note-paper, envelopes, and pens and ink. All were covered up in thin

wrapping paper to keep them from the dust. There were also a clothes

brush, a brush and comb, and a jug and basin--the latter containing

dirty water which was reddened as if with blood. Last of all was a

little heap of keys of all sorts and sizes, probably those belonging to

the other houses. When we had examined this last find, Lord Godalming

and Quincey Morris taking accurate notes of the various addresses of the

houses in the East and the South, took with them the keys in a great

bunch, and set out to destroy the boxes in these places. The rest of us

are, with what patience we can, waiting their return--or the coming of

the Count.