"Thank you; oh, thank you ever so much! And good luck!"

She put out her hand; he held it gingerly for a moment in his rough
fingers and ran for the car.




VII


The Hopper, in his rôle of the Reversible Santa Claus, dropped off the car
at the crossing Muriel had carefully described, waited for the car to
vanish, and warily entered the Wilton estate through a gate set in the
stone wall. The clouds of the early evening had passed and the stars
marched through the heavens resplendently, proclaiming peace on earth and
good-will toward men. They were almost oppressively brilliant, seen
through the clear, cold atmosphere, and as The Hopper slipped from one big
tree to another on his tangential course to the house, he fortified his
courage by muttering, "They's things wot is an' things wot
ain't!"--finding much comfort and stimulus in the phrase.

Arriving at the conservatory in due course, he found that Muriel's
averments as to the vulnerability of that corner of her father's house
were correct in every particular. He entered with ease, sniffed the warm,
moist air, and, leaving the door slightly ajar, sought the pantry, lowered
the shades, and, helping himself to a candle from a silver candelabrum,
readily found the safe hidden away in one of the cupboards. He was
surprised to find himself more nervous with the combination in his hand
than on memorable occasions in the old days when he had broken into