of such places as I select for the field of my operations, and
of the time when I shall pay my respects to them, and, on the morning
after each such visit, to bestow some small portion of the loot upon
Scotland Yard as a souvenir of the event."

And to that remarkable programme he rigidly adhered from that time
forth, always giving the police twelve hours' notice, always evading
their traps and snares, always carrying out his plans in spite of them,
and always, on the morning after, sending some trinket or trifle to
Superintendent Narkom at Scotland Yard. This trifle would be in a little
pink cardboard box, tied up with rose-coloured ribbon, and marked, "With
the compliments of The Man Who Calls Himself Hamilton Cleek."

The detectives of the United Kingdom, the detectives of the Continent,
the detectives of America--each and all had measured swords with him,
tried wits with him, spread snares and laid traps for him, and each and
all had retired from the field vanquished.

And this was the man that he, Police Constable Samuel James Collins, had
actually had in his hands, nay, in his very arms, and then had given up
for half a sovereign and let go!

"Oh, so help me! You make my head swim, Smathers, that you do!" he
managed to say at last. "I had him--I had the Vanishing Cracksman in my
blessed paws and then went and let that French hussy---- But look here;
I say, now, how do you know it was him? Nobody can go by his looks; so
how do you know?"

"Know, you footler!" growled Smathers disgustedly. "Why shouldn't I know
when I've been after him ever since he left Scotland Yard half an hour
ago?"

"Left what? My hat! You ain't a-going to tell me that he's been there?
When? Why? What for?"

"To leave one of his blessed notices, the dare-devil. What a detective
he'd 'a' made, wouldn't he, if he'd only a-turned his attention that
way, and been on the side of the law instead of against it? He walked in
bold as brass, sat down and talked with the superintendent over some
cock-and-bull yarn about a 'Black Hand' letter that he said had been
sent to him, and asked if he couldn't have police protection whilst he
was in town. It wasn't until after he'd left that the superintendent he
sees a note on the chair where the blighter had been sitting, and when
he opened it, there it was in black and white, something like this:

"The list of presents that have been sent for the wedding
to-morrow of Sir Horace Wyvern's eldest