But he cannot be comforted. He
says that his not having ten thousand pounds' worth of pearls doesn't
console him for being robbed of _eight_ thousand pounds' worth.
James has little hope that the thieves will be found, for he feels that
the Van Vrecks are in for a run of bad luck, after the good fortune of
many years. They have lost the head of the firm--"the great Paul," as
James calls him--who has definitely retired, and occupies himself so
exclusively with his collection that he takes no interest in the
business.
Then there was the robbery on the ship, which, in James's opinion, must
have been the work of a masterly combination. And now another theft!
The poor fellow has _quite_ lost his nerve, which, as you know, has for
years not been that of a young man. His deafness, no doubt, partly
accounts for the timidity with which he has been afflicted since the
first (and only other) time he was robbed. And now he blames it for
what happened last night.
He's trained himself to be a light sleeper, and if he could hear as
well as other people, he thinks the thief would have waked him coming
into his room.
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