THE DOUBLE ALIBI 173 



singular dream, he said, of being in Messrs. 

 Blocksby's rooms, of handling the Longepierre, 

 and of seeing Wentworth there, and Lord Tarras. 

 When he wakened he was very cold, and, of 

 course, it was pitch dark. He did not remember 

 where he was ; he lit a match and a candle on the 

 chimney-piece. Then slowly his memory came 

 back to him, and not only his memory, but his 

 consciousness of what he had wholly forgotten 

 namely, that this was Saturday, the Sabbath of 

 the Jews, and that there was not the faintest 

 chance of Isaacs' arrival at his place of business. 

 In the same moment the embarrassment and con- 

 fusion of the young Israelite flashed vividly across 

 his mind, and he saw that he was in a very 

 awkward position. If that fair Hebrew boy had 

 been robbing, or trying to rob, the till, then Allen's 

 position was serious indeed, as here he was, alone, 

 at an untimely hour, in the office. So he blew the 

 candle out, and went down the cling}* stairs as 

 quietly as possible, took the first cab he met, drove 

 to Paddington, and went up to Oxford. 



It is probable that the young child of Israel, 



