d walking rapidly
along an arboured path, until they came at last to the final obstacle
of all--a large rock garden--which barred their progress to the
smooth, close-clipped lawn at whose far end the house itself stood.
This rock garden, it was plain from the course she was taking, it
was Lady Leake's intention to skirt, but Cleek, noting that there
was a path running through the middle of it, pointed out that fact.

"One moment!" he said. "As time is of importance, would not this be
the shorter and the quicker way?"

"Yes," she gave back, without, however, stopping in her progress
around the tall rocks which formed its boundary. "But if we took
it we should be sure to meet Bevis. That is his especial playground,
you know, and if he were to see his father and me we shouldn't be
able to get rid of him again. No! Don't misunderstand, Mr. Cleek.
I am not one of those mothers who find their children a nuisance
in their nursery stage. Bevis is the dearest little man! But he is
so full of pranks, so full of questions, so full of life and high
spirits--and I couldn't stand that this morning. Besides, he has no
one to play with him to-day. This is Miss Miniver's half holiday.
Pardon? Yes--his nursery governess. She won't be back until three. I
only hope he will stay in the rock garden and amuse himself with his
pirates' cave until then."

"His----"

"Pirates' cave. Miss Miniver took him to a moving-picture show one
day. He saw one there and nothing would do him but his father must
let him have one for himself; so the gardeners made one for him in
the rock garden and he amuses himself by going out on what he calls
'treasure raids' and carries his spoils in there."

"His spoils, eh? H'm! I see! Pardon me, Lady Leake, but do you think
it is possible that this affair we are on may be only a wild goose
chase after all? In other words, that, not knowing the value of the
Ranee's necklace, your little son may have made that a part of his
spoils and carried it off to his pirates' cave?"

"No, Mr. Cleek, I do not. Such a thing is utterly impossible. For
one thing, the boudoir door was locked, remember; and, for another,
Bevis had been bathed and put to bed before the necklace was lost. He
could not have got up and left his room, as Miss Miniver sat with
him until he fell asleep."

"H'm!" commented Cleek. "So that's 'barking up the wrong tree' for a
second time. Still, of course, the necklace couldn't have vanished of
its own ac