en advantage of it, Sir Henry--indeed
I didn't."

"The man is a public danger. There are lonely houses scattered over the
moor, and he is a fellow who would stick at nothing. You only want to
get a glimpse of his face to see that. Look at Mr. Stapleton's house,
for example, with no one but himself to defend it. There's no safety for
anyone until he is under lock and key."

"He'll break into no house, sir. I give you my solemn word upon that.
But he will never trouble anyone in this country again. I assure you,
Sir Henry, that in a very few days the necessary arrangements will have
been made and he will be on his way to South America. For God's sake,
sir, I beg of you not to let the police know that he is still on the
moor. They have given up the chase there, and he can lie quiet until the
ship is ready for him. You can't tell on him without getting my wife and
me into trouble. I beg you, sir, to say nothing to the police."

"What do you say, Watson?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "If he were safely out of the country it would
relieve the tax-payer of a burden."

"But how about the chance of his holding someone up before he goes?"

"He would not do anything so mad, sir. We have provided him with all
that he can want. To commit a crime would be to show where he was
hiding."

"That is true," said Sir Henry. "Well, Barrymore--"

"God bless you, sir, and thank you from my heart! It would have killed
my poor wife had he been taken again."

"I guess we are aiding and abetting a felony, Watson? But, after what
we have heard I don't feel as if I could give the man up, so there is an
end of it. All right, Barrymore, you can go."

With a few broken words of gratitude the man turned, but he hesitated
and then came back.

"You've been so kind to us, sir, that I should like to do the best I
can for you in return. I know something, Sir Henry, and perhaps I should
have said it before, but it was long after the inquest that I found it
out. I've never breathed a word about it yet to mortal man. It's about
poor Sir Charles's death."

The baronet and I were both upon our feet. "Do you know how he died?"

"No, sir, I don't know that."

"What then?"

"I know why he was at the gate at that hour. It was to meet a woman."

"To meet a woman! He?"

"Yes, sir."

"And the woman's name?"

"I can't give you the name, sir, but I can give you the initials. Her
initials were L. L."

"How do you know this, Barrymore?"

"Well, Sir