gratitude to you for the service you have rendered me; some of you might
very well have been seriously hurt, if not killed, by their knives. At
any rate, I insist upon you taking it; money is always useful, you know,
and it is not often so well earned as this."

The men were greatly pleased, and Tring said:

"Well, sir, if you get into another scrape you may be sure that you can
count upon us."

"I shall try and not get into any more," Mark laughed. "This has been
a good deal more serious than I had bargained for, and I shall be very
careful in the future."

CHAPTER XV.

"The burglary season seems to have recommenced in earnest," Mark's chief
said some nine months after he had been at work. "For a time there had
been a lull, as you know, but I have had three reports this week, and it
strikes me that they are by the same hand as before; of course I may be
mistaken, but they are done in a similar way, the only difference being
that there is ground for believing that only one man is engaged in them.
I fancy the fellow that you are after has either been away from London
for some time, or has been keeping very quiet. At any rate, we have
every ground for believing that he keeps himself aloof from London
thieves, which is what I should expect from such a man. If one has nerve
enough to do it, there is nothing like working singly; when two or
three men are engaged, there is always the risk of one being caught
and turning Queen's evidence, or of there being a quarrel, and of his
peaching from revenge.

"If your man has been away from town, he has certainly not been working
any one district; of course, one gets the usual number of reports from
different quarters; but although burglaries are frequent enough, there
has been no complaint of a sudden increase of such crimes as there would
have been judging from the numerous daring attempts here, had Bastow
been concerned; therefore I feel sure that he has been living quietly.
He would have his mate's share--that man you shot, you know--of the
plunder they made together; he would know that after that affair at your
place there would be a vigilant hunt for him, and it is likely enough
that he has retired altogether from business for a time.

"However, men of that sort can never stand a quiet life long, and are
sure sooner or later to take to their trade again, if only for the sake
of its excitement. Now that the burglaries have begun again, I shall
be glad if you will