“Don’t relax your guard for an instant,” he said to the two men. “We shall be leaving here tomorrow afternoon.”
He left the room and went down to his own particular sanctum. He had made up his mind as to what he would do, and it seemed to solve all the difficulties in the most satisfactory way. These special salts should be sent direct to the yacht, and Professor Goodman should initiate him into their mysteries on board. He would have the electric furnace taken from the house, and the experiments could be carried out just as easily at sea. And when finally he felt confident of making all the various colours, and not till then, he would drop the old fool overboard. Drummond also; the extra few days would increase the chance of his becoming sane again.
He suddenly bethought him of Freyder, and went into his room. His face, even his eyes, were completely hidden by bandages, and Mr. Robinson expressed his sympathy. In fact after Freyder had exhausted his vocabulary on the subject of Drummond, Mr. Robinson even went so far as to promise his subordinate a special private chance of getting some of his own back.
“You may do anything you like to him, my dear fellow,” he said soothingly, “save actually kill him. I shall watch it all with the greatest pleasure. I only reserve to myself the actual coup de grâce.”
He closed the door and, returning to his study, took the diamond out of his pocket. The tools at his disposal were not very delicate, but he determined, even at the risk of damaging the diamond, to work with them. He wanted to make assurance doubly sure, and it was not until the first faint streaks of dawn were coming through the window that he rose from his work with a sigh of satisfaction. On the table in front of him lay diamonds to the value of some six or seven thousand pounds; there had been no mistake this time. And with a sigh of satisfaction he placed them in his safe.
He felt suddenly tired, and glancing at his watch he found that it was already half-past three. A little rest was essential, and Mr. Robinson went upstairs. He stopped by the Professor’s room and looked in: the old man was fast asleep in bed. Then he went to see Drummond once more, and found him muttering uneasily under the watchful eyes of his two guards. Everything was correct and in order, and with another sigh of satisfaction he retired to his room for a little well-earned repose.
It was one of his assets that he could do with a very small amount of sleep, and eight o’clock the following morning found him up and about again. His first care were his two prisoners, and to his surprise he found the Professor already up and pottering about in the room where he had been working the night before. He seemed in the best of spirits, and for a moment or two Mr. Robinson eyed him suspiciously. He quite failed to see what the old man had to be pleased about.
“One day nearer rejoining my dear wife,” he remarked as he saw the other standing in the doorway. “You can’t think how excited I feel about it.”
“Not being married myself,” agreed Mr. Robinson pleasantly, “I admit that I cannot enter into your joy. You’re up early this morning.”
“I couldn’t sleep after six,” explained the Professor. “And so I decided to rise.”
Mr. Robinson grunted.
“Your breakfast will be brought to you shortly,” he remarked. “I would advise you to eat a good one, as we shall be starting shortly afterwards.”
“Starting?” stammered the Professor. “But I thought you wished me to show you how to make blue diamonds. And the other colours too.”
“I do,” answered the other. “But you will show me, Professor, on board my yacht. I trust that you are a good sailor, though at this time of year the sea should be calm.”
Professor Goodman stood by the electric furnace plucking nervously at his collar. It seemed as if the news of this early departure had given him a bit of a shock.
“I see,” he said at length. “I did not understand that we were starting so soon.”
“You have no objections, I hope,” murmured Mr. Robinson politely. “The sooner we start, the sooner will come that delirious moment when you once more clasp Mrs. Goodman in your arms. And now I will leave you, if you will excuse me. I have one or two things to attend to—amongst them our obstreperous young friend of last night.”
He strolled along the passage into the room where Drummond was. And though he realised that the idea was absurd, he felt a little throb of relief when he saw him still lying bound on the bed. Ridiculous, of course, that he should find anything else, and yet Drummond, in the past, had extricated himself from such seemingly impossible situations that the sight of him bound and helpless was reassuring. Drummond smiled at him vacantly, and with a shrug of his shoulders he turned to the two men.
“Has he given any trouble?” he asked.
“Not a bit, guv’nor,” answered one of them. “He’s as balmy as he can be. Grins and smiles all over his face, except when that old bloke next door comes near him.”
Mr. Robinson stared at the speaker.
“What do you mean?” he said. “Has the old man been in here this morning?”
“He came in about half an hour ago,” answered the other.
