ith natural curiosity, pounced upon it, and
finding it to be a toothsome delicacy, could not resist it.

For another five minutes Ralph waited without making a sound.

Then he threw another stone against the iron sheeting of the gate.

The noise was loud. But there was no answering bark.

Then he crept back to where Adolphe lurked in the shadow.

A quarter of an hour later, both men were crouching before a long window
which led out upon a well-kept lawn. They had scaled the wall, and crept
across the grass without a sound.

The weather favoured them, for there was a slight west wind which, while
catching the foliage of the trees, caused it to rustle and so conceal
any slight noise they might make.

Ralph pressed the button of his electric lamp, and a small spot of light
shone upon the glass. Then, with expert hand, he quickly smeared it with
treacle, and afterwards, with a glazier's diamond, cut out a piece
sufficient to allow him to insert his hand and turn the latch within.

A moment later, both men were inside the large, well-furnished
_salle-a-manger_, treading noiselessly upon the thick Turkey carpet,
though "The Eel," in entering, unfortunately stumbled, and in grabbing
the door to prevent himself falling, cut his hand badly, even through
the india-rubber gloves they both wore.

The pair lost no time in clearing the fine, carved sideboard of the
quantity of valuable plate it contained. Then, led by Ralph, to whom the
interior of the big house was well known, "The Eel" entered the cosy,
luxuriously-furnished library, which was the private den of the chief
secret agent of the German Empire.

It was not a large room. Its size was revealed to Adolphe by the
flashing of his companion's lamp. Lined with books, and with a big,
business-like writing-table placed in the window, it was a cosy place--a
place with which many a spy of Germany was familiar and in which many a
man had received a bundle of hundred-franc notes in return for
information, or plans of France's armaments or defences.

From it a door led straight into the grounds, so that a visitor was not
compelled to pass through the house in order to have a confidential chat
with its owner, while in a farther corner of the garden was a door in
the wall by which a side road might be gained.

Neither man spoke as they made a noiseless tour of the room. "The Eel"
carried a capacious sack of black material, and into it thrust what
knick-knacks seemed to be