instant he heard a strange footstep, and now raised again. Why had it
been dropped? What had it hidden? In the look of the room itself there
was not a suggestion of an answer to either question. It was just an
ordinary man's study, a cross between a smoking room and a library, a
much more comfortable room than the outside of that house promised. Yet
people do not suddenly pull down blinds in the middle of the forenoon for
no reason at all.

For a moment I thought of a passage at arms with a pretty housemaid as a
solution. But it would obviously have been much quicker and simpler for
any other party to flee the room than to make for the window and lower
the blind. No; something had to be done which took a few minutes to do.
I thought instantly of one possibility--the folding up or putting away of
maps or plans. No doubt there were several other possibilities, but there
seemed the best of reasons for not giving these worthy gentlemen my
confidence. In fact quite a different course of action suggested itself.

Transfixing the doctor suddenly with a significant eye, I demanded in
rather a low voice, "Are there many sheep in this island?" I still think
it was a shot well worth risking, but to be quite candid it failed to
come off. At least it did not come off entirely. Both the gentlemen
certainly looked a little startled, but all Dr. Rendall did was to stare
at me very hard, while O'Brien exclaimed.

"Faith, he's a dealer!"

But again I refused the proffered explanation, even though it was quite
evidently the easiest way of accounting for myself.

"No," said I, "but I am very greatly interested in your beautiful island,