Then, down-stairs I stole, as Raffles
himself had taught me, close to the wall, where the planks are
nailed. Nor had I made a sound, to my knowledge; for a door was
open, and a light was burning, and the light did not flicker as I
approached the door. I clenched my teeth and pushed it open; and
here was the veriest villain waiting for me, his little lantern
held aloft.
"You blackguard!" I cried, and with a single thwack I felled the
ruffian to the floor.
There was no question of a foul blow. He had been just as ready
to pounce on me; it was simply my luck to have got the first blow
home. Yet a fellow-feeling touched me with remorse, as I stood
over the senseless body, sprawling prone, and perceived that I had
struck an unarmed man. The lantern only had fallen from his hands;
it lay on one side, smoking horribly; and a something in the reek
caused me to set it up in haste and turn the body over with both
hands.
Shall I ever forget the incredulous horror of that moment?
It was Raffles himself!
How it was possible, I did not pause to ask myself; if one man on
earth could annihilate space and time, it was the man lying
senseless at my feet; and that was Raffles, without an instant's
doubt.
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