Now Bridge, sleeping the sleep of utter exhaustion that the
boom of a cannon might not have disturbed, did that inexplicable
thing which every one of us has done a hundred times
in our lives. He awakened, with a start, out of a sound sleep,
though no disturbing noise had reached his ears.
Something impelled him to sit up in bed, and as he did so
he could see through the window beside him into the yard at
the rear of the building. There in the moonlight he saw a man
throwing a sack across the horn of a saddle. He saw the man
mount, and he saw him wheel his horse around about and
ride away toward the north. There seemed to Bridge nothing
unusual about the man's act, nor had there been any indication
either of stealth or haste to arouse the American's suspicions.
Bridge lay back again upon his pillows and sought to
woo the slumber which the sudden awakening seemed to have
banished for the remainder of the night.
And up the stairway to the second floor staggered Tony
and Benito. Their money was gone; but they had acquired
something else which appeared much more difficult to carry
and not so easily gotten rid of.
Tony held the key to their room. It was the second room
upon the right of the hall. Tony remembered that very distinctly.
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