ing out by the secret door, got clear away down the
drive. But that is not the worst. Matthews gave them the car!"

"No!" said Desmond incredulously.

"He did, though," answered Francis. "Mind you, Mortimer had had
the presence of mind to throw off his disguise. He presented
himself to Matthews as Strangwise. Matthews knows Strangwise
quite well: he has often seen him with the Chief.

"'My God, Captain Strangwise,' says Matthews, as the trio
appeared, 'What's happened?'

"'You're wanted up at the house immediately, Matthews,' says
Strangwise quite excitedly. 'We're to take the car and go for
assistance.'

"Matthews had a look at Strangwise's companions, and seeing
Bellward, of course, takes him for you. As for the lady, she had
a black lace muffler wound about her face.

"'Miss Mackwayte's coming with us, Matthews,' Strangwise says,
seeing Matthews look at the lady. That removed the last of any
lurking suspicions that old Matthews might have had. He left the
military policeman at the gate and tore off like mad up the drive
while Strangwise and the others jumped into the car and were away
before you could say 'knife.' The military, policeman actually
cranked up the car for them!

"When Matthews burst into the library with the story of you and
Strangwise and Miss Mackwayte having gone off for help in our
only car, I knew we had been sold. You were there, knocked out of
time on the floor, in your disguise as Bellward, so I knew that
the man with Strangwise was the real Bellward and I consequently
deduced that Strangwise was Mortimer and consequently the very
man we had to catch.

"We were done brown. If we had had a little more time to think
things out, we should have found that motor-bike and I would have
gone after the trio myself. But my first idea was to summon aid.
I tried to telephone without success and then we found the wire
cut outside. Then I had the idea of pumping Behrend. I found him
quite chatty and furious against Mortimer, whom he accused of
having sold them. He told us that the party would be sure to make
for the Dyke Inn, as Nur-el-Din was there.

"By this time Strangwise and his party had got at least an hour
clear start of us. I had set a man to repair the telephone and in
the meantime was thinking of sending another on foot to Stanning
to fetch one of our cars. Then I found the motor-bike and
despatched one of the military policemen on it to Stanning.

"In about half an hour's time he wa