"He was bare-headed, but he had a black cloak thrown over hisshoulder, so that he could conceal his face in an instant if therewere any alarm. He walked on tiptoe under the shadow of the wall,and when he reached the window he worked a long-bladed knife throughthe sash and pushed back the catch. Then he flung open the window, andputting his knife through the crack in the shutters, he thrust the barup and swung them open.

　　"From where I lay I had a perfect view of the inside of the room andof every one of his movements. He lit the two candles which stood uponthe mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn back the corner ofthe carpet in the neighbourhood of the door. Presently he stoopedand picked out a square piece of board, such as is usually left toenable plumbers to get at the joints of the gas-pipes. This onecovered, as a matter of fact, the T joint which gives off the pipewhich supplies the kitchen underneath. Out of this hiding-place hedrew that little cylinder of paper, pushed down the board,rearranged the carpet, blew out the candles, and walked straightinto my arms as I stood waiting for him outside the window."Well, he has rather more viciousness than I gave him credit for,has Master Joseph. He flew at me with his knife, and I had to grasphim twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had the upperhand of him. He looked murder out of the only eye he could see withwhen we had finished, but he listened to reason and gave up thepapers. Having got them I let my man go, but I wired fullparticulars to Forbes this morning. If he is quick enough to catch hisbird, well and good. But if, as I shrewdly suspect, he finds thenest empty before he gets there, why, all the better for thegovernment. I fancy that Lord Holdhurst, for one, and Mr. Percy Phelpsfor another, would very much rather that the affair never got as faras a police-court."

　　"My God!" gasped our client. "Do you tell me that during theselong ten weeks of agony the stolen papers were within the very roomwith me all the time?"

　　"So it was."

　　"And Joseph! Joseph a villain and a thief!"

　　"Hum! I am afraid Joseph's character is a rather deeper and moredangerous one than one might judge from his appearance. From what Ihave heard from him this morning, I gather that he has lost heavily indabbling with stocks, and that he is ready to do anything on earthto better his fortunes. Being an absolutely selfish man, when a chancepresents itself he did not allow either his sister's happiness or yourreputation to hold his hand."

　　Percy Phelps sank back in his chair. "My head whirls," said he."Your words have dazed me."