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- 104 CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
between two blank walls to a courtyard. On the right hand, the
blank unwhitewashed wall of a four-storied house stretched far
into the court; on the left, a wooden hoarding ran parallel with
it for twenty paces into the court, and then turned sharply to
the left. Here was a deserted fenced-oflf place where rubbish of
different sorts was lying. At the end of the court, the corner of
a low, smutty, stone shed, apparently part of some workshop
peeped from behind the hoarding. It was probably a carriage
builder's or carpenter's shed; the whole place from the entrance
•w: s black with coal dust. Here would be the place to throw it,
hft thought. Not seeing any one in the yard, he slipped in, and
at once saw near the gate a sink, such as is often put in yards
where there are many workmen or cabdrivers; and on the
hoarding above had been scribbled in chalk the time-honoured
witticism, "Standing here strictly forbidden." This was all the
better, for there would be nothing suspicious about his going in.
"Here I could throw it all in a heap and get away!"
Looking round once more, with his hand already in his pocket,
he noticed against the outer wall, between the entrance and the
sink, a big unhewn stone, weighing perhaps sixty pounds. The
other side of the wall was a street. He could hear passers-by,
always numerous in that part, but he could not be seen from the
entrance, unless some one came in from the street, which might
well happen indeed, so there was need of haste.
He bent down over the stone, seized the top of it firmly in
both hands, and using all his strength turned it over. Under the
stone was a small hollow in the ground, and he immediately
emptied his pocket into it. The purse lay at the top, and yet the
hollow was not filled up. Then he seized the stone again and
W^ith one twist turned it back, so that it was in the same posi-
tion again, though it stood a very little higher. But he scraped
the earth about it and pressed it at the edges with his foot.
Nothing could be noticed.
Then he went out, and turned into the square. Again an
intense, almost unbearable joy overwhelmed him for an instant,
as it had in the police oflfice. "I have buried my tracks! And who,
who can think of looking under that stone? It has been lying
there most likely ever since the house was built, and will lie
as many years more. And if it were found, who would think of
me? It is all over! No clue!" And he laughed. Yes, he remem-
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