It grew still heavier when Durbin, joining us, added his incredulity
to the air of suspicion assumed by the others. Through all the
explanations I now entered into, I found myself inwardly repeating
with somewhat forced iteration, "I will not believe her guilty under
any circumstances. She carries the look of innocence, and innocent
she must be proved, whatever the result may be to Francis Jeffrey."
To such an extent had I been influenced by the lofty expression
which I had once surprised on her face.
Had Mr. David Moore been sitting open-eyed behind his vines that
morning, he would have been much surprised to see so many of his
natural enemies intrude on his property at so early an hour. But,
happily, he had not yet risen, and we were able to enter upon our
investigations without being watched or interrupted by him.
Our first move was to go in a body to the southwest chamber, take
down the picture, examine it with a magnifying-glass and satisfy
ourselves that the words I had picked out of its mazy lines were
really to be found there. This done and my veracity established,
we next proceeded to the closet where, according to the
instructions embodied in this picture, the secret spring was to be
found by which some unknown and devilish machinery would be released
in the library below.
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