The top of this wall
was set with broken bottles, and beyond was the street, where they
could hear people passing along. The moonlight rendered all this as
light as day, and, as Selina pointed out to her mistress, there was
no place where a man could conceal himself. But this did not satisfy
Madame; she left the window half open, so that the cool night wind
could blow in, and drew together the red velvet curtains which hung
there.
'You've left the window open,' remarked Selina, looking at her
mistress, 'and if you are nervous it will not make you feel safe.'
Madame Midas glanced at the window.
'It's so hot,' she said, plaintively, 'I will get no sleep. Can't
you manage to fix it up, so that I can leave it open?'
'I'll try,' answered Selina, and she undressed her mistress and put
her to bed, then proceeded to fix up a kind of burglar trap. The bed
was a four-poster, with heavy crimson curtains, and the top was
pushed against the wall, near the window. The curtains of the window
and those of the bed prevented any draught blowing in; and directly
in front of the window, Selina set a small wood table, so that
anyone who tried to enter would throw it over, and thus put the
sleeper on the alert. On this she put a night-light, a book, in case
Madame should wake up and want to read--a thing she very often did--
and a glass of homemade lemonade, for a night drink.
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