THIRD OBLONG BOX ARRIVES

"I think," said Wilton Barnstable, when Cleggett had finished, "that I
may be able to clear up a few points for you.

"The two men whom you saw me hazing up and down the bank of the canal,
and whom you saw again tonight, followed by the man in the baby blue
silk pajamas, were Dopey Eddie and Izzy the Cat!"

"The wretches!" cried Lady Agatha.

"Wretches indeed," said Wilton Barnstable, Barton Ward, and Watson
Bard, in unison, and with conviction.

"And the man in the baby blue silk pajamas, was----" the great
detective paused, as if to make his revelation more effective. And
while he paused, Miss Genevieve Pringle, with pursed lips and averted
face, signified that the very idea of introducing a man in baby blue
silk pajamas into the conversation was intensely displeasing to her.

"The man in pajamas was Reginald Maltravers," finished the great
detective.

"Reginald Maltravers!" cried Lady Agatha.

She opened her mouth again as if to say something more, but words
failed her, and she only stared at the detective, with parted lips and
round eyes.

Cleggett went to her and touched her on the arm, and with the touch she
gave a sob of emotion and found her tongue again.

"Reginald Maltravers," she said, "is not dead then! Not dead after
all!"

She endeavored to control herself, but for a moment or two she
trembled. It was evident that it was all she could do to keep from
crying hysterically with relief. The nightmare that had haunted her
for days had vanished almost too suddenly. Presently she began to be
herself again.

"You are sure that he is not dead?" she said with a voice that still
shook.

"Sure," said Wilton Barnstable.

And as if quietly satisfied with the sensation they had produced, the
three detectives smiled at each other urbanely and contentedly.
Barnstable continued:

"Reginald Maltravers came to my agency some days ago and requested a
bodyguard. Dopey Eddie and Izzy the Cat had attacked him, no doubt
intending to earn the money which Elmer had promised them. He beat
them off. In fact, he caned them soundly. But they still continued to
dog him.

"Mr. Ward here, who handled the case, soon reported to me that he
believed Reginald Maltravers to be insane."

"Insane he was," cried Lady Agatha. "I have seen the light of insanity
in his eye, gleaming through his accursed monocle." She spoke with
vehemence. Now that she knew the man to be alive, her hatred of