the lawn.

There was a head of water in this pipe, and with the aid of its stream
the fire was extinguished.

The detective did not assist. He turned his attention to discovering
what had become of Colonel Richmond.

The colonel had disappeared. The carriage in which he had come was gone.

Doubtless the person who had driven him over had hustled him into the
carriage at the earliest possible moment.

"A shrewd move," muttered Nick, "and a bad one for me. However, I've got
this gang cornered, and if they've been doing the job at the colonel's
house, their operations are over."

There was an excited group of people by the main door of the house. In
the midst of them stood the medium, a fat and coarse woman, whom Nick
had seen before in the same crooked business.

Those around her were the real believers in spiritualism, who had come
to the show.

They had witnessed the exposure, and were ready to mob the medium.

Nick took his two prisoners to this group. He tied them securely, and
then turned to one of the dupes:

"Why don't you have these people arrested?" he whispered. "Charge them
with taking money under false pretenses."

"Good!" said the man. "There's a warrant for some of them already. I'll
get the constable, who lives over across the fields, and he'll pull 'em
all in."

A half-hour later the whole gang was under arrest and on the way to the
nearest lock-up.

The detective felt that his evening's work was not in vain. Whatever
might be the facts about the connection of this gang with the affair at
Colonel Richmond's, it was a good thing to get them all out of the way.

The colonel's presence among them proved that they were the
spiritualistic crowd which was after him. Their removal would simplify
matters.

Moreover, the colonel's presence, and his questioning of the spook,
showed that any theory connecting him with the disappearance of the
jewels was wrong.

It was evident that he had asked the questions in all sincerity,
believing that he was really in the presence of his aunt's spirit.

He could hardly be crazy enough to do that, supposing that his lunacy
had led him to abstract the jewels.

Having witnessed the arrest of the gang, Nick procured a horse and drove
rapidly toward Colonel Richmond's house. He arrived there about
half-past eleven o'clock.

There was a light in the parlor, and through the open window Nick beheld
an unusual scene.

The colonel, Mrs. Pond and Horace were pre