Читать книгу Charles Peace, or The Adventures of a Notorious Burglar онлайн

175 страница из 895

“Don’t fret yourself; nobody blames you,” returned her master. “The righteous have naught to fear.”

The captain strode towards the window, which he closed and fastened. He then threw up the shutters. This done, he turned towards the two constables, and said, as he approached the door—

“This way, if you please. It would be idle to prolong this scene. The maid wants to seek repose. She has been kept up later than usual, in consequence of a few visitors we’ve had this evening. You will, therefore, please follow me.”

The two policemen obeyed. The master of the house closed the door of the bedroom, and, with a light in one hand and a sword in the other, he led the way into a room below.

“Now, gentlemen” (he emphasised this last expression), “since you have taken upon yourselves to enter my premises as trespassers—​I cannot call you anything else—​I do not desire to part with you without first of all seeing that you search every room in the house.”

The constables felt that they had made a great mistake; this fact they were forcibly impressed with, and they were seriously concerned at the issue.