g within a quarter of an hour. In another
minute Raffles had opened the box and tumbled all the biscuits into the
nearest chair.

"Now newspapers!"

I fetched a pile. He bid the cup of gold a ridiculous farewell,
wrapped it up in newspaper after newspaper, and finally packed it in
the empty biscuit-box.

"Now some brown paper. I don't want to be taken for the grocer's young
man."

A neat enough parcel it made, when the string had been tied and the
ends cut close; what was more difficult was to wrap up Raffles himself
in such a way that even the porter should not recognize him if they
came face to face at the corner. And the sun was still up. But
Raffles would go, and when he did I should not have known him myself.

He may have been an hour away. It was barely dusk when he returned,
and my first question referred to our dangerous ally, the porter.
Raffles had passed him unsuspected in going, but had managed to avoid
him altogether on the return journey, which he had completed by way of
the other entrance and the roof. I breathed again.

"And what have you done with the cup?"

"Placed it!"

"How much for? How much for?"

"Let me think. I had a couple of cabs, and the postage was a tanner,
with another twopence for registration. Yes, it cost me exactly
five-and-eight."

"IT cost YOU! But what did you GET for it, Raffles?"

"Nothing, my boy."

"Nothing!"

"Not a crimson cent."

"I am not surprised. I never thought it had a market value. I told
you so in the beginning," I said, irritably. "But what on earth have
you done with the thing?"

"Sent it to the Queen."

"You haven't!"

Rogue is a word with various meanings, and Raffles had been one sort of
rogue ever since I had known him; but now, for once, he was the
innocent variety, a great gray-haired child, running over with
merriment and mischief.

"Well, I've sent it to Sir Arthur Bigge, to present to her Majesty,
with the loyal respects of the thief, if that will do for you," said
Raffles. "I thought they might take too much stock of me at the G.P.O.
if I addressed it to the Sovereign her-self. Yes, I drove over to St.
Martin's-le-Grand with it, and I registered the box into the bargain.
Do a thing properly if you do it at all."

"But why on earth," I groaned, "do such a thing at all?"

"My dear Bunny, we have been reigned over for sixty years by infinitely
the finest monarch the world has ever seen. The world is taking t