ant conference
of the Federation at Derby the next day, the District Secretary ought
to have been in possession of my report on local affairs. I had drawn
up the report. My daughter Phyllis had typed it, and she ought to have
posted it. On questioning her, I found she had neglected to do so. I
explained this over the wires and said I would bring the report at once
to The Three Feathers. I only tell you all this, in which you can't be
interested, so that you can't say: 'What were you doing on a lonely
road at that time of night?' My daughter and the landlord of The Three
Feathers can corroborate this part of my story. I set out on my
bicycle. It was bright moonlight. You know that for about two hundred
yards before the lock gate, and for about twenty after, the towing-path
is raised above the level of the main road which runs parallel with it
a few yards away. There are strips of market garden between. When I got
to this open bit I saw two persons up on the towing-path. One was a
girl with a loose kind of cloak and a hat. The other was a man wearing
a soft felt hat and a light overcoat. The overcoat was open and I saw
that he was wearing it over evening dress. That caught my attention.
What was this swell in evening dress doing there with a girl? I slowed
down and dismounted. They didn't see me. I got into the shadow of a
whitethorn. They turned their faces so that the moon beat full on them.
I saw them as plain as I see you. They were Colonel Boyce, V.C.,--Major
then--and your daughter, Mr. Mayor, Miss Althea Fenimore."

He paused as though to point the dramatic effect, and twisted round,
sticking out his horrible beard at Sir Anthony. Sir Anthony, his hands
thrust deep in his trouser-pockets and his bullet head bent forward,
glared at him balefully out of his old blue eyes. But he said never a
word. Gedge continued.

"They didn't speak very loud, so I could only hear a scrap or two of
their conversation. They seemed to be quarrelling--she wanted him to do
something which he wouldn't do. I heard the words 'marriage' and
'disgrace.' They stood still for a moment. Then they turned back. I had
overtaken them, you know. I remounted my bicycle and rode to The Three
Feathers. I was there about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes.
Then I rode back for home. When I came in sight of the lock, there I
saw a man standing alone, sharp in the moonlight. As I came nearer I
recognised the same man, Major Boyce. There were no light