rloin,
extract, and remove from its secret hiding-place the coveted plum-blossom
vase. Muriel, in her longing for a Christmas of peace and happiness, had
not reckoned with her father's passionate desire to possess the porcelain
treasure--a desire which could hardly fail to cause scandal, if it did not
land him behind prison bars.

This had not been in the programme, and The Hopper weighed judicially his
further duty in the matter. Often as he had been the chief actor in
daring robberies, he had never before enjoyed the high privilege of
watching a rival's labors with complete detachment. Wilton must have known
of the concealed cupboard whose panel fraudulently represented the works
of Thomas Carlyle, the intent spectator reflected, just as Muriel had
known, for though he used his lamp sparingly Wilton had found his way to
it without difficulty.

The Hopper had no intention of permitting this monstrous larceny to be
committed in contravention of his own rights in the premises, and he was
considering the best method of wresting the vase from the hands of the
insolent Wilton when events began to multiply with startling rapidity. The
panel swung open and the thief's lamp flashed upon shelves of pottery.

At that moment a shout rose from somewhere in the house, and the library
lights were thrown on, revealing Wilton before the shelves and their
precious contents. A short, stout gentleman with a gleaming bald pate,
clad in pajamas, dashed across the room, and with a yell of rage flung
himself upon the intruder with a violence that bore them both to the
floor.

"Roger! Roger!" bawled the smaller man, as he struggled with his
adversary, who wriggled from under and rolled over upon Talbot, whose arms
were clasped tightly about his neck. This embrace seemed likely to
continue for some time, so tenaciously had the little man gripped his
neighbor. The fat legs of the infuriated householder pawed the air as he
hugged Wilton, who was now trying to free his head and gain a position of
greater dignity. Occasionally, as opportunity offered, the little man
yelled vociferously, and from remote recesses of the house came answering
cries demanding information as to the nature and whereabouts of the
disturbance.

The contestants addressed themselves vigorously to a spirited
rough-and-tumble fight. Talbot, who was the more easily observed by reason
of his shining pate and the pink stripes of his pajamas, appeared to be
revolving about t