have got
within reach. Miss Penfold was just as cool as if she had been eating
her breakfast, and so was we all except John."

John had by this time fastened up the shutter again, and feeling that
his persecutors were too many for him he slunk off at once to his
room; and the others, beginning to feel that their garments were
scarcely fitted for the cold night air postponed their discussion of
the affair until the following morning. The next morning after
breakfast the servants were called into the dining-room, and Miss
Penfold interrogated them closely as to whether any of them had seen
strange men about, or had been questioned by any one they knew as to
valuables at the Hall.

"If it had not been for Anna," she said, when she had finished without
eliciting any information, "the house would have been robbed, and not
any of us would have been any the wiser. It was most fortunate that,
as she says, she happened to be awake and heard the sounds; and she
acted very properly in coming quietly down to wake me. If the one man
in the house," and she looked scornfully at the unfortunate butler,
"had been possessed of the courage of a man the whole of them would
have been shot; for they were standing close together, and he could
hardly have missed them if he had tried.

"If that weapon had been in the hands of Anna, instead of those of
John Wilton, the results would have been very different. However, John
Wilton, you have been a, good servant generally, and I suppose it is
not your fault if you have not the courage of a mouse, therefore I
shall withdraw my notice for you to leave. I shall make arrangements
for the gardener to sleep in the house in future, and you will hand
that blunderbuss over to him. I shall write to-day to the ironmonger
at Weymouth to come over and fix bells to all the shutters, and to
arrange wires for a bell from my room to that which the gardener will
occupy."

At breakfast Miss Penfold informed her sister of what had taken place
the night before.

"I shall write, of course, to the head constable at Weymouth to send
over to inquire about it, but I have very little hope that he will
discover anything, Eleanor."

"Why do you think that, Charlotte? You said that you were convinced
you had wounded one of the men; so they ought to be able to trace
him."

"I dare say they would if this had been an ordinary theft; but I am
convinced that it was not."

"Not an ordinary theft! What do you mean?"

"I