"That is not possible, sir," I said. "Both Mr. Smith, the mayor of
Morganton and his friend the mayor of Pleasant Garden, are reliable
men. And they speak from their own knowledge in this matter. Flames
have certainly risen above the Great Eyrie. Strange noises have
issued from it. There can be no doubt whatever of the reality of
these phenomena."

"Granted," declared Mr. Ward. "I admit that the evidence is
unassailable. So the deduction to be drawn is that the Great Eyrie
has not yet given up its secret."

"If we are determined to know it, Mr. Ward, the solution is only a
solution of expense. Pickaxes and dynamite would soon conquer those
walls."

"No doubt," responded the chief, "but such an undertaking hardly
seems justified, since the mountain is now quiet. We will wait awhile
and perhaps nature herself will disclose her mystery."

"Mr. Ward, believe me that I regret deeply that I have been unable to
solve the problem you entrusted to me," I said.

"Nonsense! Do not upset yourself, Strock. Take your defeat
philosophically. We cannot always be successful, even in the police.
How many criminals escape us! I believe we should never capture one
of them, if they were a little more intelligent and less imprudent,
and if they did not compromise themselves so stupidly. Nothing, it
seems to me, would be easier than to plan a crime, a theft or an
assassination, and to execute it without arousing any suspicions, or