obscured the unsavoury sight.

"What the hell's all this about?" shouted one of the men, advancing
into the room, the others remaining by the door.

Slowly Malcolm Sage turned and regarded the three men, whose
appearance proclaimed their pugilistic calling.

"I was just asking Mr. Goldschmidt to be so good as to accompany me
to where Charley Burns is----"

He was interrupted by exclamations from all three men.

"What the hell do you mean?" demanded he who had spoken, a dark,
ill-favoured fellow with a brow like a rainy sky.

"I will tell you," said Malcolm Sage. "Last night Mr. Goldschmidt,
accompanied by certain friends, went to Burns's training-quarters to
keep an appointment made in the name of a girl friend of Burns. He
came out quite unsuspectingly, was overpowered, and subsequently
taken in Mr. Goldschmidt's car to a place with which I am
unacquainted, so that he shall not appear at the Olympia to-morrow
night."

He drew his pipe from his pocket and proceeded to fill it. His air
was that of a chess player who knows that he can mate his opponent
in two moves.

"It's a damned lie!" roared one of the men, whilst Goldschmidt
shrieked something that was unintelligible.

"You drove out by way of Putney Hill, Esher, and Clandon Cross Roads.
You backed the car to within two hundred yards of 'The Grove,' where
you all got out with the exception of the driver. You then entered
'The Grove,' taking cover behind a large clump of rhododendrons."

"It's a damned lie," choked Goldschmidt.

"By the way," continued Malcolm Sage, "your fair friend drove out in
the tonneau; but returned seated beside the driver, and one of you
was nearly left behind and entered the car after it had started."

The men looked at one another in bewilderment.

"You, Goldschmidt, carried an umbrella," continued Malcolm Sage,
"and took cover behind the holly bush; but you came out a little too
soon, hence that nose. Burns was playing 'possum. You were rather
anxious for a smoke too. I am a smoker myself."

A stream of profanity burst from Goldschmidt's lips.

"You see I am in a position to prove my points," said Malcolm Sage
calmly.

"Oh! you are, are you?" sneered the spokesman, as he moved a little
closer to Malcolm Sage, "and I am in the position to prove that
we're four to one."

"Three to one," corrected Malcolm Sage quietly. "Your friend,"
indicating Goldschmidt, with a nod, "is scarcely----"

He was interrupted by a stifled