At the eleventh hour, as it were, the Peruvian had got back his own, or at least a portion of his own.
Placing the emerald in his drawer, Random gave orders to his servant that the sentry, when off duty, should be brought before him.

Just as Random finished dressing for mess--and he dressed very early, so as to devote his entire attention to solving this new problem--the soldier who had been on guard appeared.

But he could tell nothing more than he had already related.

When doing sentry-go immediately outside the gate of the Fort, the packet had been slipped into the box, while the man was at the far end of his beat.

It was quite dark when this was done, and the soldier confessed that he had not heard a sound, much less had he seen anyone.