So I took my post without a murmur in the front room above the
shop. The fixtures had been left for the refusal of the incoming
tenant, and fortunately for us they included Venetian blinds
which were already down. It was the simplest matter in the world
to stand peeping through the laths into the street, to beat twice
with my foot when anybody was approaching, and once when all was
clear again. The noises that even I could hear below, with the
exception of one metallic crash at the beginning, were indeed
incredibly slight; but they ceased altogether at each double rap
from my toe; and a policeman passed quite half a dozen times
beneath my eyes, and the man whom I took to be the jeweller's
watchman oftener still, during the better part of an hour that I
spent at the window. Once, indeed, my heart was in my mouth, but
only once. It was when the watchman stopped and peered through
the peep-hole into the lighted shop. I waited for his whistle--I
waited for the gallows or the gaol! But my signals had been
studiously obeyed, and the man passed on in undisturbed serenity.

In the end I had a signal in my turn, and retraced my steps with
lighted matches, down the broad stairs, down the narrow ones,
across the area, and up into the lobby where Raffles awaited me
with an outstretched hand.

"Well done, my boy!" said he. "You're the same good man in a
pinch, and you shall have your reward. I've got a thousand
pounds' worth if I've got a penn'oth. It's all in my pockets.
And here's something else I found in this locker; very decent
port and some cigars, meant for poor dear Danby's business
friends. Take a pull, and you shall light up presently. I've