ing in my wine cellar, Nella Racksole?'
said the millionaire a little stiffly He was certainly somewhat annoyed
at having mistaken his daughter for a criminal; moreover, he hated to
be surprised, and upon this occasion he had been surprised beyond any
ordinary surprise; lastly, he was not at all pleased that Nella should
be observed in that strange predicament by a stranger.

'I will tell you,' said Nella. 'I had been reading rather late in my
room--the night was so close. I heard Big Ben strike half-past twelve,
and then I put the book down, and went out on to the balcony of my
window for a little fresh air before going to bed. I leaned over the
balcony very quietly--you will remember that I am on the third floor
now--and looked down below into the little sunk yard which separates the
wall of the hotel from Salisbury Lane. I was rather astonished to see a
figure creeping across the yard. I knew there was no entrance into the
hotel from that yard, and besides, it is fifteen or twenty feet below
the level of the street. So I watched. The figure went close up against
the wall, and disappeared from my view. I leaned over the balcony as far
as I dared, but I couldn't see him. I could hear him, however.'

'What could you hear?' questioned Racksole sharply.

'It sounded like a sawing noise,' said Nella; 'and it went on for quite
a long time--nearly a quarter of an hour, I should think--a rasping sort
of noise.'

'Why on earth didn't you come and warn me or someone else in the hotel?'
asked Racksole.

'Oh, I don't know, Dad,' she replied sweetly. 'I had got interested in
it, and I thought I would see it out myself. Well, as I was saying,
Mr. Babylon,' she continued, addressing her remarks to Felix, with a
dazzling smile, 'that noise went on for quite a long time. At last it
stopped, and the figure reappeared from under the wall, crossed the
yard, climbed up the opposite wall by some means or other, and so over
the railings into Salisbury Lane. I felt rather relieved then, because I
knew he hadn't actually broken into the hotel. He walked down Salisbury
Lane very slowly. A policeman was just coming up. "Goodnight, officer,"
I heard him say to the policeman, and he asked him for a match. The
policeman supplied the match, and the other man lighted a cigarette, and
proceeded further down the lane. By cricking your neck from my window,
Mr Babylon, you can get a glimpse of the Embankment and the river. I saw
the man cross the E