g for his chance for a good while before the master
heard him at yon door. Is that not a fair deduction too, sir?"

"It's possible," said Ned, though not with great conviction.

"And now here's a point that accounts for Sir Reginald giving no
alarm--Sir Reginald knew the man and couldna believe he meant
mischief!"

Ned looked at him quickly and curiously.

"Well?" said he.

"Is that not a fair deduction, Mr. Cromarty?"

"Seems to fill the bill."

"And now, here's a few personal details. Yon man was a fair active
strong man to have dealt with the master the way he did. But he was not
strong enough to carry off the corp like a sack of potatoes; he was no a
great muckle big giant, that's to say. And finally, calculating from the
distance the body was from the door and the number of steps he would be
likely to take to the door, and sae arriving at his stride and deducing
his height accordingly, he'd be as near as may be five feet nine inches
tall. Now, sir, me and you ought to get him with a' that known!"

Ned Cromarty looked at him with a curious gleam in his eye.

"What's your own height, Bisset?" he enquired.

"Five feet nine inches," said the reasoner promptly, and then suddenly
his mouth fell open but his voice ceased.

"And now," pursued Ned with a grimly humorous look, "can you not think
of a man just that height, pretty hefty but not a giant, who was
certainly in the house last night, who knew all the ways of it, and who
would never have been suspected by Sir Reginald of meaning mischief?"

"God!" exclaimed the unfortunate reasoner. "I've proved it was mysel'!"

"Well, and what shall I do--string you up now or hand you over to the
police?"

"But, Mr. Cromarty--you don't believe that's right surely?"

Tragic though the occasion was, Ned could not refrain from one brief
laugh. And then his face set hard again and he said:

"No, Bisset, I do not believe it was you. In fact, I wouldn't believe it
was you if you confessed to it. But I'd advise you not to go spreading
your deductions abroad! Deduction's a game that wants a bit more
practice than you or I have had."

It is possible that James Bisset had never looked quite so crestfallen
in his life.

"Then that's all nonsense I've been talking, sir?" he said lugubriously.

"No," said Ned emphatically. "I'll not say that either. You've brought
out some good points--that broken table, the place the body was found,
the possible reason why Sir Reginald g