I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual.
About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in the house.

It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an impression behind it as though a window had gently closed somewhere.

I lay listening with all my ears.

Suddenly, to my horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in the next room.

I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door.
"'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you touch that coronet ?' "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the light, holding the coronet in his hands.