lways thought you kept him quite enough in
leading-strings. No, it's no good. I can't satisfactorily locate this
beast even now," bringing to the light a small wooden box from which he
had just removed the lid, and which contained the identical specimen of
the lizard tribe which we saw him puzzling over in the small hours of
the morning which had witnessed the attack on the Kangala camp. "I
didn't bring the right book. I shall have to wait until I get back to
my library."

King Williamstown was the official headquarters of the F.A.M. Police,
and there the Commandant owned a roomy and commodious bungalow, which
contained a varied library, well stocked with standard works dealing
with his favourite science.

Now he replaced the box and went over to the window. It was open, but
the blind was down. This he pulled up and stood gazing meditatively out
into the night, as though to penetrate darkness and space to where the
plotting chiefs were even then arranging for the wave of steel and torch
which should presently sweep the land. In good sooth he might well feel
anxious. He was a singularly observant and keen-minded man, with a
cool, matter-of-course courage that would stick at nothing once his
judgment had commended any given line of action as necessary. He had
consistently maintained that, given a free hand, he would have
guaranteed there should have been no outbreak at all in the first
instance; when such had befallen, he was confident of his power to stem
it, but again he was hampered by official orders and counter orders.
And now, when the most dangerous outbreak of all was imminent, once
again Red Tape wriggled its way in.

Greenoak, seated back in his armchair, refilled and lit his pipe in
silence. He too was busy with his own thoughts, and forebore to
interrupt those of his friend. These two men, who understood each other
so well, were both of the concentrative order of mind, and when there
was anything of importance to be thought out, they thought it out
thoroughly, and round and round. Here there was something very
important indeed, an enterprise which held out to Harley Greenoak quite
as big a chance of losing his life as any he had ever taken. But that
was not what engaged his attention for the most part. It was the chance
of failure, and all that such would involve. The Commandant's favourite
dogs, two beautiful black spaniels, which had just leaped in through the
open window, came frisking up