He slipped behind the laurel and waited, holding his breath; the dispute
still went on; no one seemed to have noticed him, probably the darkness
prevented all chance of that; he went on tip-toe to the gate--it was not
locked.

He opened it very carefully a little way; it was forbearing enough not
to creak, and the next moment he was outside, free to go where he would!

Escape, after all, was simple enough when he came to try it; he could
hardly believe at first that he really was free at last; free with money
enough in his pocket to take him home, with the friendly darkness to
cover his retreat; free to go back and confront Dick on his own ground,
and, by force, or fraud, get the Garuda Stone into his own hands once
more.

As yet he never doubted that it would be easy enough to convince his
household, if necessary, of the truth of his story, and enlist them one
and all on his side; all that he required, he thought, was caution; he
must reach the house unobserved, and wait and watch, and the deuce would
be in it if the stone were not safe in his pocket again before twelve
hours had gone by.

All this time he was still within a hundred yards or so of the
playground wall; he must decide upon some particular route, some
definite method of ordering his flight; to stay where he was any longer
would clearly be unwise, yet, where should he go first?

If he went to the station at once, how could he tell that he should be
lucky enough to catch a train without having to wait long for it, and
unless he did that, he would almost certainly be sought for first on the
station platform, and might be caught before a train was due?

At last, with an astuteness he had not suspected himself of possessing,
which was probably the result of the harrowing experiences he had lately
undergone, he hit upon a plan of action. "I'll go to a shop," he
thought, "and change this sovereign, and ask to look at a
timetable--then, if I find I can catch a train at once, I'll run for it;
if one is not due for some time, I can hang about near the station till
it comes in."

With this intention he walked on towards the town till he came to a
small terrace of shops, when he went into the first, which was a
stationer's and toy-dealer's, with a stock in trade of cheap wooden toys
and incomprehensible games, drawing slates, penny packets of stationery
and cards of pen and pencil-holders, and a particularly stuffy
atmosphere; the proprietor, a short man with