ven on Kink's too, he knew that he had stumbled by chance on an
excellent weapon, and he resolved to make the most of it.

"Come," he said, "the license. I'm waiting to see it."

Janet and Robert, who had by this time come up, were told of the
difficulty.

"License?" said Robert. "What license?"

"All carriages must have licenses," said the policeman, "and all
caravans have to produce theirs when called for, because they're always
moving about."

The children gathered round Kink to discuss it. Kink said that it was
all Greek to him. He supposed, of course, that caravans had to have
licenses, but he'd never heard of demands for them in the highroad.
"But do be civil to him, Master Robert," he implored. "You never get
any good out of cheeking the police."

"Well," said Robert to the constable, "this caravan was given to us.
The license for it was got, I feel sure, by the person who gave it to
us."

"Who was that person?" P.C. Roper asked, with his pencil ready to write
down the name.

Here was a poser. Who indeed? The children had discussed X. often
enough, but were no nearer to discovering him.

"I don't know," Robert was forced to say.

P.C. Roper smiled a deadly smile. "Oho!" he said. "You don't know who
gave you the caravan! Things are looking up. Caravans drop from the
sky, do they? A very thin story indeed. I'll trouble you to come with
me, all of you, and see my inspector."

P.C. Roper was quite happy now. He had not only filled the impertinent
children with fear, but he had done a smart thing on his very first day
as constable. He drew himself up, and returned the notebook to his
pocket.

"Your inspector?" Robert said. "Where does he live?"

"Well," said P.C. Roper, "he lives at Bidford, but he's at Stratford
to-day, at the Police Court, and he won't be back till the evening."

"We can't wait till evening," Robert said. "It would throw out all our
plans."

"Plans!" exclaimed P.C. Roper. "Plans indeed! Aren't you
suspicious-looking persons in the possession of an unlicensed caravan,
and unable to give any reasonable account of how you got it? Your plans
can wait."

"Please give us a little time to discuss it," Janet said, and they all
surrounded Kink once more.

"Of course it's absurd," Jack said; "but what an awful pity you don't
know who X. is! That's what makes the trouble. It looks so silly, too."

"Do you really think that caravans have to show licenses?" Janet asked
Kink.

"I never