Page:The Mystery of Madeline Le Blanc (1900).djvu/64

64 stone toward the thick brown monument. You know the direction. In case anything happens to me, you know my voice, and will come at once, for you do not want to live longer than I—do you, midget? Come."

They passed the door and stood in the outer night, which was even of a thicker darkness than that within.

"Hold! what is this?" asked Satiani, brushing against something, after they had advanced a short distance.

"The first bramble between the front door and the hedge, I think," answered the dwarf.

"True, I had forgotten it. You will lie here. I shall descend into the valley, and enter the cemetery from the north. Remember to throw the stone, if you hear anything about the house, as I told you." So saying, he left the dwarf, and started northward down the valley, the shovel on his back. After descending for a distance he turned west, and walked at right angles with the inclined plane. It was the difficult part of his task to know exactly how far westward to go, in order not to lose the general notion of his whereabouts with