We kept in the shadow of the
wall, and looked expectantly at the house. But no murmur came from it, it
might have been a house of the dead for any noise the living made there;
nor was there light in any window, except in one behind the balcony, to
which our eyes were turned first. In that room there was someone not yet
gone to rest, for we could see a lattice of light where a lamp shone
through the open work of the wooden blinds.
'He is up still,' I whispered, 'and the outside shutters are not closed.'
Elzevir nodded, and then I made straight for the bed where the red flower
grew. I had no need of any light to see the bells of that great rushy
thing, for it was different from any of the rest, and besides that was
planted by itself.
I pointed it out to Elzevir. 'The stone lies by the stalk of that
flower,' I said, 'on the side nearest to the house'; and then I stayed
him with my hand upon his arm, that he should stand where he was at the
bed's edge, while I stepped on and got the stone.
My feet sank in the soft earth as I passed through the fringe of poppies
circling the outside of the bed, and so I stood beside the tall rushy
flower. The scarlet of its bells was almost black, but there was no
mistaking it, and I stooped to pick the diamond up. Was it possible? was
there nothing for my outstretched hand to finger, except the soft rich
loam, and on the darkness of the ground no guiding sparkle? I knelt down
to make more sure, and looked all round the plant, and still found
nothing, though it was light enough to see a pebble, much more to catch
the gleam and flash of the great diamond I knew so well.
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