he was to meet Miss Vaughan?"

"At an arbour in one corner of the grounds," I answered.

"Then we'll start from there and take a quiet look for him. Wait here
for me a minute."

He melted into the darkness, and I stood holding on to the ladder as
though in danger of falling, and staring at the top of the wall, where
I had last seen Swain. An hour and a half had passed since then....

A touch on the arm brought me around with a start.

"Here, put this pistol in your pocket," said Godfrey's voice, and I
felt the weapon pressed into my hand. "And here's an electric torch.
Do you feel the button?"

"Yes," I said, and pressed it. A ray of light shot toward the wall,
but I released the button instantly.

"You'd better keep it in your hand," he added, "ready for action. No
telling what we'll run across. And now come ahead."

He put his foot on the ladder, but I stopped him.

"Look here, Godfrey," I said, "do you realise that what we're about to
do is pretty serious? Swain might have a legal excuse, since the
daughter of the house invited him to a meeting; but if we go over the
wall, we're trespassers pure and simple. Anybody who runs across us in
the darkness has the right to shoot us down without asking any