I could wait a little and see. Tempted
I already was, but as yet the temptation was vague, and its very
vagueness made me tremble.
"'Bad news, I'm afraid?' said the manager, when at last I sat
down at his table.
"'A mere annoyance,' I answered--I do assure you--on the spur of
the moment and nothing else. But my lie was told; my position was
taken; from that moment onward there was no retreat. By
implication, without realizing what I was doing, I had already
declared myself W. F. Raffles. Therefore, W. F. Raffles I would
be, in that bank, for that night. And the devil teach me how to
use my lie!
Again he raised his glass to his lips--I had forgotten mine. His
cigarette-case caught the gas-light as he handed it to me. I
shook my head without taking my eyes from his.
"The devil played up," continued Raffles, with a laugh. "Before
I tasted my soup I had decided what to do. I had determined to
rob that bank instead of going to bed, and to be back in
Melbourne for breakfast if the doctor's mare could do it. I
would tell the old fellow that I had missed my way and been
bushed for hours, as I easily might have been, and had never got
to Yea at all. At Yea, on the other hand, the personation and
robbery would ever after be attributed to a member of the gang
that had waylaid and murdered the new manager with that very
object.
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