ybody seems to have overslept themsailves and
never a word has even come to me over the telephone in my lodge."

"Good! Excellent! Well, keep your mouth tight-closed and know nothing if
you are questioned. Not even to the master of the Castle himself. To
_nobody_. Simply nothing untoward happened at all last night that you
know of. Follow me?"

"Absolutely, sair."

"Very well, then. Come, Mr. Narkom, we'll make our way up to the Castle
now. Fine place, isn't it? Wonderful bit of stone-work in that
balustrade round the tessellated tower. Never noticed it so plainly
before. Perhaps it's the fine day."

Speaking, he led the way up the drive, followed by a wide-eyed Dollops
and a panting Superintendent who had not long finished his breakfast of
bacon and eggs, and had missed his usual ten minutes' perusal of the
newspaper after it.

Jarvis opened the door to them, bowing low over Cleek's cap as the
latter proffered it, and giving Dollops a friendly wink behind his
master's back as he led them into the little ante-room and went to
summon his mistress.

As they sat waiting, Cleek saw Tavish, clad in riding-boots and
trousers, and making a fine figure of a man, swing past the half-open
door. Cleek nodded to him as he glanced in.

"Good morning. I say--come in a moment, won't you? I've got a perfectly
astonishing piece of news!"

Then, as Tavish, with a nod and a smile, came into the tiny room,
seeming, in his enormous stature, to fill up every nook and corner of
it, and shook Cleek firmly by the hand, that gentleman leaned a little
forward and whispered something in his ear.

Mr. Narkom saw the flare of eye and the slackening of jaw which betoken
amazement as Tavish opened his mouth to speak. But Cleek held up a
silencing hand.

"Hush! I don't want the thing made public yet, y' know, my dear chap.
Only I thought perhaps you'd like to have a look in and see the final
round-up of the villains. Take a back seat, you know. There's no harm in
that. And I've the most amazing bit of evidence by me which I've traced
it all to. Stolen will among other things. Bring it home to _her_ as
smart as you please. Ought to be worth watching when you see her face."

"Gad!--yes." Tavish struck one hand into the open palm of the other, and
his nice face went grim. "The woman's a devil from the first letter to
the last. And if you knew the things she's done to my future
wife--Johanna McCall--well, it fair makes a man's blood boil. I'd