The Datchet Diamonds

r. John Ireland's manner whi

otel. As he came out of the hotel his eye caught a glimpse of a loiterer standing in the shadow of a door higher up the street. When he had gone a little distanc

sy. His manner's queer. I wonder if he has any suspicions of Lawrence, or of Lawrence's friend. That he knew the pair I'll bet my boots. Plainly, Lawrence is not the fellow's real name; it is simply the name by which he chose to be known to Daisy. If Ireland has cause to suspect the precious pair, seei

ived that another man was there--a man who, as soon as Mr. Paxton turned his head, stopped short, seeming to be wholly absorbed in watching the sea. The man immedia

ose gentlemen is shadowin

e way up it he peeped to see. A man was coming

. The question is, whether they are both engaged by the same person, or if they are in separate employ. I have no doubt whatever that one of them defies the chances of catching cold in the interests of Mr. Lawrence. Until the little mystery connected with the

The rain was falling faster. He pulled his coa

tless feels to know where it is that I am staying. The natural deduction being that where I stay, there also stays my Gladstone bag. The odds are that Mr. Lawrence feels a quite conceivable curiosity to know in what the difference exactl

he road still plodded along. On the opposite side of the street, much farthe

ired first. I'm off indoors. The Gladstone, with its contents, I'll confide to the l

ing his face again towards the front. As he expec

ar who bothers me. I

ed for the landlord. He was told that the landlord did not reside in

Gladstone bag. Have you a strong room in whic

were--a sight to gladden a connoisseur's heart; to make the blood in his veins run faster! How they sparkled, and glittered, and gleamed! How they threw off coruscations, each one a fresh revelation of beauty, with every movement of his hands and of his eyes. He would get nothing for them--was that what John Ireland said? Nothing, at any

earing, and attire were somewhat rough; he looked rather like a prizefighter than the sort of guest one would expect to encounter in an hotel of standing. Still less was Mr. Paxton pleased with the familiarity of his address. The man, placing himself in the adjoining chair, plunged into the heart of a conversation as if they had been the friends of years. After making one

ping

hat I am, d

hat f

do yo

ird floor,

ppose that I am on

Perhaps you're on the four

s full of po

o at his pipe; then, whol

your n

numb

number of

s

-what

is w

y, what's the num

cise

ven't told me

N

u going to

Mr. Paxton moved towards the door. Turning in his cha

, not answering a civil que

ton onl

d-ni

, even after the door was closed. He asked the

you. I don't think I have ever seen him

he stairs, smiling t

t of that Gladstone bag, at any rate by deputy. I may be wrong, but the deputy whom I fancy he has selected is an individual possessed of such a small amount of tac

as furnished with a bolt as well a

arousing me. And even should any enterprising person succeed in doing so,

to the luxury of a slumber; and also, when he chose, he could wake out of it. This very desirable accomplishment did not fail him then. As soon as he was between the

icient to awake him. It was indeed a sound which would have been inaudible to nine sleepers out of ten which actually did arouse him. I

from outside. It won't do, my man. You are a little clumsy at your work. Your clumsiness betrayed you. You should get a

efractory, or, as Mr. Paxton said, the operator clumsy, but certainly he did take what seemed to be an unconscionable length of time in performing what is supposed to be a rudimentary function in the burglar's art. He fumbled and fumbled, time after time, in vain. One could hear in th

ing of the labourer'

he handle of the door. He turned it. With all his gentleness it grated. One could hear that he gave it an inward pus

's t

d that they could just detect the shufflin

one at t

n's next words were utter

; nor that to-night there is likely to be again. I'll just jum

. And for the second time he was aroused by a sound so faint that it would hardly have penetrated to the average sleeper's senses. On t

e coming from the door; it sounds more as if it were coming from the window--and, by George, it is! What does it

his legs into a pair of trousers. He to

pon the weapon, "that my prophetic soul told me that this

towards the window, holdin

moved one of the curtains, with a view of ascertaining if his doing so would enable him to see what was going on without. One thing the movement of the curtains did reveal to him, that there was a dense fog out of doors. The blind did not quite fit the window, and enough

hich, while little enough in itself, was yet sufficient to have given a nervous person a considerable shock. Something outsi

a little nearer to the sky. Instead of the first floor, it should have been the third, or even the fourth, beyond the reach of ladders. Messrs. Lawrence and Co. seem resolved to beat the iron while it's hot. The hunt becomes distinctly keen. It is perhaps only natural to expect that they sh

make out, against the white background of fog, the faint outline of a man's figure. This figure did an unexpected thing. Without any sort of warning, the shutter of a dark lantern was suddenly opened, and the light thrown on the window in s

Mr. Paxton could adapt his dazzled eyes to the restoration of the blackness. When he did so, he perceived that the man on the ladder was leaning ov

h your infernal lantern, and now

jack-in-the-box. Whether the man had fallen or not, there was for the moment no evidence to show. Mr. Paxton dragged the dressing-table away, threw up the window, and looked out. The mist came st

the matter

ide open. A porter was stan

he matter. Burgl

rgl

pening my window, so I had a pop at him. He appears

de from without. The man had escaped; but the precipitancy of his descent was evidenced by the

d he and his associates stood on the order of their goin