Slowly the shadows darkened over the long, sombre face of the old house.

A cold, damp reek from the moat chilled us to the bones and set our teeth chattering.

There was a single lamp over the gateway and a steady globe of light in the fatal study.

Everything else was dark and still.
"How long is this to last ?" asked the inspector finally.

"And what is it we are watching for ?" "I have no more notion than you how long it is to last," Holmes answered with some asperity.