r of an hour Barker and I had
put my dressing gown on him and he lay as you found him. We tied all his
things into a bundle, and I weighted them with the only weight I could
find and put them through the window. The card he had meant to lay upon
my body was lying beside his own.

"My rings were put on his finger; but when it came to the wedding ring,"
he held out his muscular hand, "you can see for yourselves that I had
struck the limit. I have not moved it since the day I was married, and
it would have taken a file to get it off. I don't know, anyhow, that I
should have cared to part with it; but if I had wanted to I couldn't.
So we just had to leave that detail to take care of itself. On the other
hand, I brought a bit of plaster down and put it where I am wearing one
myself at this instant. You slipped up there, Mr. Holmes, clever as
you are; for if you had chanced to take off that plaster you would have
found no cut underneath it.

"Well, that was the situation. If I could lie low for a while and then
get away where I could be joined by my 'widow' we should have a chance
at last of living in peace for the rest of our lives. These devils would
give me no rest so long as I was above ground; but if they saw in the
papers that Baldwin had got his man, there would be an end of all my
troubles. I hadn't much time to make it all clear to Barker and to my
wife; but they understood enough to be able to help me. I knew all about
this hiding place, so did Ames; but it never entered his head to connect
it with the matter. I retired into it, and it was up to Barker to do the
rest.

"I guess you can fill in for yourselves what he did. He opened the
window and made the mark on the sill to give an idea of how the murderer
escaped. It was a tall order, that; but as the bridge was up there was
no other way. Then, when everything was fixed, he rang the bell for all
he was worth. What happened afterward you know. And so, gentlemen, you
can do what you please; but I've told you the truth and the whole truth,
so help me God! What I ask you now is how do I stand by the English
law?"

There was a silence which was broken by Sherlock Holmes.

"The English law is in the main a just law. You will get no worse than
your deserts from that, Mr. Douglas. But I would ask you how did this
man know that you lived here, or how to get into your house, or where to
hide to get you?"

"I know nothing of this."

Holmes's face was very white and g