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/iN Fn CHAPTER XV. Shrewd Diplomacy. I, tell yen I have no need of your services. You can go." Stop a. moment. Mr Crundall. You have not heard all I hare to say. You're rather impatient, I think." There's nothing more to be said, and I've no time to waste." Then you would prefer me going at once to Mrs Loraine?" "Mrs Loraine! What do you mean, eh?" And the expression on Crandah's face altered materially. Only what I sav. You would prefer my goinz to Mrs Loraine ?" "What's your name?" said the great City man in a quieter voice. "Ah, Mr Claud Hope, I see," he added, as ha picked up a card he had a moment before thrown down angrily on the table. You can go and see whom you like, of course, but the lady you name is not well, and won't see you, so you may save yourself the trouble." I think she will, though I don't wish to contradict you." Well, I don't want her bothered, so I'd rather you didn't go.' I certainly shan't go, if I can do business with you." What do you want?" It's a queston with you. Do you want a clerk? I think you do. I may be mistaken, but I think you do." Crundall scowled across the table at his visitor, who maintained the most placid ex- terior. You're a most infernal nuisance," he said. A man who means to get on in this world always is," was the smiling reply- Go and wait outside a minute or two. You've got credentials, I suppose?" h In my pocket." Leave them with me—and wait." Than you, Mr Crundall." And Claud Hope left the room, but there was a something about his movements that did not accord well with the air of one asking a favour. Since he had been residing with his mother and sister he had not been altogether idle. He had intended devoting himself to the Chester- ton-square business, but the narrow escape he had had there had compelled him to put the matter on one side for a time. Then the remembrance of the name he had seen on the doctor's prescription which lie had picked up in the Square reverted to his mind, coupled with the anxiety displayed by Mr Crundall to obtain possession of it again, and be thought he saw in it a source of profit, if properly engineered. As luck would have it, Mrs Loraine, the name he had caught sight of on the prescription, was known to him in the old days before he quitted England, indeed there bad been tender pas- sages between them. She was one of those women of whom there are so many in London-those who, somehow, manage to hang on to the fringe of society, without ever getting within the pale. Many people looked askance at her, and her chief supporters were to be found amone the younger members of the sterner sex. Women did not like her, and called her hard names, but then she was remarkably pretty. Before renewing his acquaintance with her, Claud kept her under eye for some little time, and discovered she was now the friend of Redmond Crundall. Once he knew this, he Jaw brighter days in store icr him. He was I well posted in the lady's past. and there were several little matters stored away in his own mind, which had not heen generally known even in the old days. and which wpre now entirely forgotten, save by a very few, but the knowledge of which armed him with a Jower he was not slow to recognise. It was yhus provided that he called on Mr Crundall at bis office in Coleman-street and suggested a clerkship in his employ, and though at first he met with anything but a gracious reception, he knew he had the game in his bands, and that juccess was certain. He was, therefore, content to wait in the outer office. It was a little bluff on the part of the great man, and he was willing to allow him this concession, as a sop to his pride. Five minutes saw the limit of his delay, the bell rang, and he was resummoned to the sanctum. Your late employer speaks very well of you, Mr Hope," said Crundall, with an unpleasant look still upon his face, "but it is not very clear why you left there." I had business in England which called me back." And is that business completed? I mean tre you now free?" Well, I can't honestly say it is, but it won't interfere with anything I may undertake. I should not allow it to do so. I know my duty to my employer far too well for that." Quite so. Then you are practically free now?" Certainly." And then followed some ordinary questions and answers, and Claud left the office with the understanding that he would present himself on the following Monday, at mid-day, pre- pared to take up his duties. Directly he found himself in the street the serious expression on Lis face changed to one of triumph, and he chuckled to himself as lie muttered What a piece of absolute luck picking up that prescription I've got him on toast now, and he sees it. Only let me play my cards properly, and I can live like a lord and do nothing." And with that in direct contraven- tion of his future master's expressed wishes, and his own promise, he made his way to a tmall house in a quiet street in South Ken- tingtout asked if Mis Loraine was at home, and tent up his card. That his reception was again hardly a cordial one he would have at once admitted, but that did not matter very much to him, now that his former acquaintance with the lady had pro- duced the desired effect. Mrs Loraine was much surer of her position than she had been when they had last met, but even now she felt she could not afford to ignore him altogether, and the result was a kind of armed neutrality between them, Hope taking care to let her know that he was now in the employ of Crundall. For some time he sat talking to her, touching gently on several little incidents of the past, which he thought it quite as well she should know he bad not forgotten, but doing this without any show of animosity. And when at length he took his departure, the two separated seemingly the best of friends. The reason Crundall had fixed mid-day on Monday for Hope's coming to him was that he had received an invitation from old sugden to spend the week-end at his country house at Elstroe, and had accepted. This invitation had been the cause of some disquietude to Grace, for it hud been made without any intimation to her, and she. in the meantime, had called on the Woodwards, and had asked them down for the same date. They too had accepted, and now, unless they were put off, Ella and Crundall would be brought face to face. In her perplexity she had applied to Mans- field. as being their friend, and he in turn had seen Woodward, who. after consulting with his wife, thought it would be better to let matter3 stand as they were. The house party was a large one. so Ella need see very little of her former admirsr unless she liked. And thu;" matters stood when the guests commenced to assemble on Saturday afternoon. Crundall greeted the Woodwards just as any casual iriend might have been expected to do. and certainly never forced his company on Ella, so that any feeling of awkwardness she might have at first experienced quickly van- ished. and she prepared to enjoy herself to the full. The house party was just what hundreds of house parties round London are, and need not be described. After dinner—Sugden being famous for his cuisine—there was a little music, and then the inevitable bridge, though it could not be said that there were any great amount of gambling, or that stakes were very high. Ella Woodward did not play. but for some time sat talking to Grace and Mansfield, who was also of the party, and then retired quietly. Even the excitement of the visit had tried her, tin:e she was Jar from strong. Occasionally the various bridge parties fcroke up, and fresh ones were formed, but it was lone past midnight when the final move was made, and the ladies went upstairs, leaving the gentlemen to retire to the smoking-room. Sugden's liquor and cigars were undeniabie, and there were one or two really good talkers of the party, so that a long sitting took place there, and it was !?e}:ting on for two o'clock vhen Woodward went up to bed. He found a good fire still burning, and Ella wide awake. Hallo, Ella, this won't do. You ought to have been asleep long ago. You'll bo fit for nothing in the morning." Oh I've been resting, though I could not go to sleep. Besides, I wanted to tell you some- thing." And what's that ?" Such a curious thing. You know I came tip here rather early, and after I had s'ot ready for bed I happened to go to the window and look ont. The window look's ovt the garden, and tbe view i? a cjood one. but I couldn't seo very much, as the clouds were c.vcr the moon, but while I was standing thcr?something white flew down from the roof, it seemed, right n front ot the window, and tell nearly on the other side of the lawn. I thought it must be some kind of bird, and waited to see it get up. But it didn't stir, and I couldn't make out what on earth it could be, when very quietly from the bank of shrubs that bounds the garden there I saw the figure of a man steal out and pick it up, and then, just as quietly, steal back again." Nonsense, Ella. You must have been dreaming." Indeed I wasn't. I saw him distinctly, though I could not distinguish his features. He had on a cloth cap, and a daik overcoat." Was it one of the men staying here ?" I doa't know. I didn't see as clearly as that." One or two of them did go out of the draw- ing room after you left, I remember. Should you know him again ? You're quite sure it was a man ?" Certain, but I don't think I should know him." •• It's odd, but I should think it was one of the servants having a lark with her lover. She might net have been able to get to meet him. the house being so full, and sent him a letter this way to acquaint him with the fact. At any rate I don't think 1 would say anything about it downstairs to-morrow, you might only get one of them into a row." I saw the figure of a man steal out from the boshea and pick it up," said Mrs Woodward. Oh, no, I won't. As you say, it probably was one of the servants. I never thought of that, and the bedrooms would all bo empty then. I was the first to come upstairs, you know. But if it was one of them, it was an uncommonly good throw for a girl, nearly across the lawn. Bat, Roper dear, don't stay up any longer, it's awfully late now, and we shall never be up to-morrow." Woodward took his wife's advice. CHAPTER XVI. Contains Some Sensation. A late party assembled around the breakfast table the next morning. Ella Woodward was taking her meal in bed, by Grace's special direction, and her husband was careful not to make any remark about what had been seen by her the previous night, but when he and Mansfield were smoking cigarettes in the garden afterwards, he described the matter to him, Mansfield were smoking cigarettes in the garden afterwards, he described the matter to him, and together they went and examined the bushes, from which Ella had described the mysterious mau as having appeared. There were traces of footsteps, but the ground was hard, and they were not very distinct. Oh. you were right, Woodward, it was one of the maids, you can make your mind easy about that. One of them's an awfully pretty gi<l, and has a dozen admirers, most likely. I've noticed her—a really refined looking creature." '■It may be 50< of course, but if it was, how did she manage to get her love letter so far 1" Tied it round a stone I should think, that's what I should have done. By Jove, this looks like it,too, doesn't it ?" stoopingdowuand pick- ing up a piece of string, which still retained sharp angles where it had enclosed some corners. I'll keep this, and have some fun with her when I come across her," continued Mansfield, putting it in his pocket. They finished their stroll, and thought no more of the affair until a,ter lunch, when Mans- field again came across Woodward in the smoking room, and said No go, old boy, I've made a bad shot this time." Wha.t do you mean, Mansfield 7" I mean that Emma—for that's the fair one's name—did not throw a love letter to her young man last night," llow do you know ?" I asked her. and she told me at once, she made no bones about it, that she was out with him, so there was no occasion. She's an un- commonly nice girl. Woodward, and if I were Sykes, the groom, I should be joliy proud of her." It strikes me you've been going it since I saw you it's lucky you're not a married man." Oh, it's all right. I chaffed her a bit this morning when I caught her upstairs dusting one of the passages, and she's going to find out who it was who really did throw the thing." Well, be careful, or you'll have—Sykes, did you say ?—after you with one ot his whips." You can trust me. I m not going to spoil sport." There the matter ended for the time, but it was destined to cause much searchings of heart before very long, jor dinner was not finished when the company were startled by a series of shrieks from the upper floor, followed by cries of Murder Thieves Fire and on a move being made, one of the maids was discovered standing by the door of Grace's room, endea- vouring to get it open. The first thing is the police, I'il drive down at once and inform them," said Cundall, From her disjointed, frightened statement, it appeared she had gone to prepare the room for the night, and had found the door fast, and on listening had heard sounds as if someone was moving about inside. It did not take many seconds to convince Sugden and the rest that burglars had probably been at work, and some of them hurried off to the garden, while others forced the door. But Mansfield on the first alarm had been struck by the same idea, and while the rest had dashed upstairs, he had detained Woodward, n and making their way through the drawing. room, and so through the conservatory, had gained the garden. Turning a corner of the house, they found they had not been mistaken, for there was a ladder reared up to one of the windows on the first floor. A hasty glance round showed there was no one in the iminediate neighbourhood, and with the words Come on,let's try the bushes," they started off across the lawn, only t) at, once measure their lengths on the grass, tripped up by art-' fullv-placed wiics. They were up again in a moment, and pro- ceeded mure carefully. Mansfield went to the right, Woodward to the left, and a few seconds later the voice of the latter was heard Here you are Come on," followed by an explosion ana a loud groan. Mansfield hurried to the assistance of his friend, aod found him leaning against a trse with his right hand clasped round hia left arm. Wbat is it, old fellow T You're not hurt ? Eh ?" Not much. He's winged me, That's the way he went. I shall be all right. You go after him, but for heaven's sake take care." Rot Let him go, I'm going to look after you. Can you walk ?" Then he led his friend back through the bushes to the house. Sugden'a guests were now in a state of the wildest excitement, since the wounding of Woodward had added to the shock of the rob- bery, for while the two men bad been in the garden the door of Grace's room had been forced, and everything inside found in a state of the utmost confusion. The contents of the drawers and wardrobe had been pulled out and strewn about the room, locks had been forced, and boxes broken open. At present it was not known what was missing, except that Grace remembered having left certain things on her table, and these ^ere there no longer. Everyone was talking at once, and offering suggestions, some good, some bad, and in the midst of it all the voice of Crundall was beard :— The first thing is the police," he said, I've taken the liberty of sending round to the stables, and ordering my car. It will be here in a moment, and I'll run down to the village, and give notice, and then on to the station and I tell them to k^ep a watch there as to who goes up to town to-night." "Capital, capita)," said Sugden. Very thoughtful of you. Couldn't do anything better. Here comes the car," as the whirr was heard outside. By this time Crundall was in his coat, and on the doorsteps. I shan't want you, Jackson, I'll drive my- self," he said to the chauffer, and then to his host, who was standing by be added. Better do this as quietly as possible,don't you think ? More chance of catching the rillain that way." Certainly, certainly. Hurry off, though," and vitbcut another word Crundall sailed down the drive. Meanwhile, the doctor had been sent for to j attend to Woodward's arm, which was now giving him a good deal of pain, though the wound was only a flesh one, and the skin had been merely grazed. His wife and Grace had constituted them- selves his nurses, and bad already wa.3hed and bandaged it to the best of their powers. The servants were hurrying here and there, doing a hundred things which were not required, under the impression that they were helping, and it was at this moment that Mansfield caught sight of the fair Emma coming down the stairs. He beckoned to her, and led the way into the study, where there happened to be no ODe at the moment. You can keep a secret, Emma, can't you?" I hope so. sir, I'm sure." Then please don't say a word of what I was talking about to you this afternoon, you remember." •• Yes. sir. I haven't spoke to anyone about it yt't. I meant to this evening." I "Then don't. It would be far better not. We want to catch the thief, and-well, say nothing about our talk, and here's something to help 7'u to remember," and he slipped some silver into her hand. And to-morrow before I leave, let me know who has been sleeping in the room over Mrs Woodward's." Yes sir. Thank you," and the interview ended. The remainder of that evening was a very disjointed function. No one seemed to be able to settle down to anything. First of all the doctor arrived, and after an examination, pronounced Woodward s hurt as trifling, and only needing a. day or two's rest to be a thing of the past. And then Crundall returned with an account cf where he had been, and what he had done, and how lie had wired to Scotland Yard for a detective, and had closed all the railway stations round against the thief, so that he was practically sure to be caught within the next hour or two. Meanwhile Grace had fnund time to make a thorough search of her room, and had ascer- tained that her loss had been a very small one after all. Ah, Mrs Sotms," she said, as a few of the party were gathered round the drawing-room fire, if it had been your room instead of mine that the thief fixed upon, it might have been far worse. Where would that lovely diamond and emerald necklace which you were wearing last night, and which you have not on this evening, be now? Wasn't it fortunate he hit on my roomY" "For me, my dear, very. For you, not at at all," And so the chatter went on until bedtime arrived for the ladies, and so it wns continued in a lesser degree, later in the smoking-room. Early on the following morning many of the guests departed with their curiosity still un- satisfied, for there was no news of a capture and the detective would say nothing. When the doctor paid his visit his report on Woodward was a very favourable one, but he would not bear of him being moyed tbat day. And Mansfield, ostensibly to hear his report, but really for certain reasons of his own, had lingered behind the other guests. When they had departed, and the house was auiet, he made his way to the second floor, where he ran into Emma, as he had expected. Well, my girl, have you found out what I wanted to kno\v?" Yes, sir, this was Mr Barker's room, and this Mr LMCOIIO'S, and that Mr Crundall's, and this Mr Doublcday's," and the girl, throwing open be doors of the four roonn overlooking the garden. "Just so. And which is the one over Mr3 Woodward's? Tbi;, isn't it?" Yes, sir, Mr Doubled ay's." I thought so. And now, Emma, do you think you could find me one of those steel pins with glass hfeads, that ladies use, and bring it to me Lere?" Ob, yes, sir, if you'll wait no moment," and the girl ran off. The instant eho was out of sight Mansfield dived into first one room and then another of those that bad been pointed out to him. making arapid search. Beneath the toilet tables and in the grates was where be looked most. He remembered that as the previous day had been Sunday the rooms had nrohably not been cleaned since the arrival of the guests. Emma appeared to find the particular form of pin he desired rather scarce, for it was some little timo before she returned but when she did, MansGol 1 was standing lookiug out of a window in the corridor, lost in thought. The pin, sir," she said, handing it to him. Pin—what pin? Oh; I bad forgotten, thank you," ana sticking it into the lapel of his coat, he walked off downstairs. He's a funny gentleman, he is. What did ho want it for I wonder," she muttered to her- self, as she returned to her work. Shortly after this Mansfield took his depar- ture but before doing so. he had a few words with Woodward which caused the patient considerable astonishment, at the same time producing ÎIom his pocket book two small fragments of string, and whispering something in his ear. Woodward's reply was also ins whisper, and then Mansfield continued I tell you, old fellow, I'll have him as safe as a thief in a mitt. very shortly but I shall want your aid, so get well as soon as possible. I'll look round at the Square very shortly, but in the meantime, I've a lot to do. Ta-ta (To b^ continued.)

TO ENSURE PURE MILK.I

I TYPHOID CASE AT BARRY.

FROM GOLF LINKS TO ALTAR.

SUDDEN DEATH OF A VICAR.

Y GOLOFN GYMREIG.I

AT Y BEIRDD.

- Y RHAIADR.

HEDDWCH.

LLUSERN Y GLOWR.

HEDDWCH.!

Y DANCHWA.

DIWYGIAD.

Y GWLADGARWR.

Y DWYRAIN.

Y FORAWEL.

Y DYN-ÏÏUNANOL. iI

o IFOR BOYS AND GIRLS.

"The Wreckers." ..

GARNANT EXPLOSION.

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Swansea and Camme") Laird.

HOLIDAY WITHOUT LEAVE.

MR HUGH WATT, EX-M.P.

NOT ENOUGH WOOD.

WORKING MEN'S~INSTITUTE FOR…

THE LAW AS TO DANGEROUS DOGS.

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