The Curator did not hesitate.

He was there almost as soon as the young man himself.
But the detective was not so hasty.

With a thousand things in mind, he stopped to peer along the gallery and down into the court before giving himself away to any prying eye.

Satisfied that he might make the desired move with impunity, Mr.Gryce was about to turn in the desired direction when, struck by a new fact, he again stopped short.
He had noticed how the heavy tapestry shivered under Correy's clutch.

Had this been observed by anyone besides himself?
If by chance some person wandering about the court had been looking up--but no, the few people gathered there stood too far forward to see what was going on in this part of the gallery; and relieved from all further anxiety on this score, he joined Correy at the pedestal and at a word from him succeeded in squeezing himself around it into the small space they had left for him between the pushed-out hanging and the wall.