Say that your nose smelt a rat.
But why to-night ?" I cannot say wherefore; but, as he stared around, a nausea seemed to take the unfortunate man.

Perhaps, the excitement of confession over, the cold shadow of the end rose and thrust itself before him.
He was, I feel sure, a coward in grain.

He swayed and caught at the ledge of the chimneypiece, almost knocking over one of the two candles which burned there.
With that there smote on our ears the sounds of two voices in altercation outside--one a woman's high contralto.

Footsteps came bustling through the outer room and there stood on the threshold-- Miss Belcher.
She was attired in a low-crowned beaver hat and a riding habit the skirt of which, hitched high in her left hand, disclosed a pair of tall boots cut like hessians.

On this hand blazed an enormous diamond.