his mouth. The suddenness of the attack
dazed him; he did not struggle, but held his breath; he----"

"How the blazes did you know that, Mr. Sage?" burst out Burns.

"You are always a quick-thinker in the ring," said Malcolm Sage,
"and you were a quick-thinker then. You smelt chloroform, held your
breath and thought. It was a sort of instinctive ring-craft."

"But you----" began Burns.

"There were no marks of a struggle where you were seized. You
probably realised that your only chance lay in letting the enemy
think you were losing consciousness?"

Burns nodded.

"Seeing that there was no sign of trouble," continued Malcolm Sage,
"the principal in this little affair stepped out from where he had
been taking cover just at the moment when Burns broke loose and let
out. Movement has always a primary attraction for the eye, and Burns
got this man full on the nose and ruined it. He also sent him clean
into the privet-hedge, where he collapsed."

"Who was it?" demanded Alf Pond fiercely.

"There were, however, too many of them for Burns," continued Malcolm
Sage, ignoring the question. "They had planned the attack very
carefully, each clinging to a limb. Soon they had him unconscious
and bound in the car. Then they turned their attention to their
leader."

"Yes; but how did you find Burns?" asked Mr. Doulton eagerly.

"I didn't," said Malcolm Sage. "They showed me where he was."

"But----" began Mr. Papwith, whose shiny cleanshaven face, normally
suggestive of a Turner sunset, now looked like a conflagration.

"After half an hour's fruitless effort to track the car down
side-roads, I returned to London as fast as my man could take me,"
proceeded Malcolm Sage, "and I immediately set enquiries on foot as
to the betting on the Stock Exchange, at Tattersall's, the National
Sporting Club, and other places. By three o'clock that afternoon I
knew pretty well who it was that had been laying heavily against
Burns. That simplified matters."

Alf Pond and Burns exchanged admiring glances.

"As you know, for more than a week previously the betting had made
it clear that heavy sums were being laid on Jefferson. In the course
of ten days it had veered round from 5 to 4 on Burns to 9 to 2
against. As there were no rumours detrimental to his condition or
state of health, this could only mean that a lot of money was being
put on Jefferson. I found out the names of the principal layers and
the amounts. I discovered that all w