d paced up and down the room. He must wait
for a week, wait till the funeral was over, and then he would be on
Bastow's track. If all other plans failed he would spend his time in
coaches until at last the villain should try to stop one; but there must
be other ways. Could he find no other he would apply for employment as
a Bow Street runner, serve for a year to find out their methods, and
acquaint himself with the places where criminals were harbored. It would
be the one object of his life, until he succeeded in laying his hand on
Bastow's shoulder. He would not shoot him if he could help it. He should
prefer to see him in the dock, to hear the sentence passed on him, and
to see it carried out. As to the treasure, it was not worth a thought
till his first duty was discharged.

Presently a servant brought him a cup of tea. He drank it mechanically,
and then proceeded to dress himself. Sir Charles Harris would be here
soon and the others; indeed, he had scarcely finished when he was told
that the doctor from Reigate had just arrived, and that the constable
had come up half an hour before. He at once went down to the library,
into which the doctor had been shown.

"You have heard what has happened," he said, as he shook hands silently.
"I expect Sir Charles Harris here in half an hour. I suppose you will
not go up till then?"

"No, I think it will be best that no one should go in until he comes. I
have been speaking to Simeox; he was going in, but I told him I thought
it was better to wait. I may as well take the opportunity of going
upstairs to see Mr. Bastow. I hear that he fainted when he heard the
news, and that he is completely prostrate."

"Two such shocks might well prove fatal to him," Mark said; "he has been
weak and ailing for some time."

"Two shocks?" the doctor repeated interrogatively.

"Ah, I forgot you had not heard about the affair yesterday evening: a
man fired at us through the window when we were sitting round the fire,
before the candles were lit. The ball passed between my father's head
and Mr. Bastow's; both had a narrow escape; the bullet is imbedded in
the mantelpiece. I will have it cut out; it may be a useful item of
evidence some day."

"But what could have been the man's motive? Your father was universally
popular."

"Except with ill doers," Mark said. "I ran out and chased the fellow
for half a mile, and should have caught him if he had not had a horse
waiting for him in a lane, and