him, I expect," replied Jack.

"Ah, true," returned his father. "I wonder, though, if he had any
accomplices."

He turned and spoke to the woman, and she at once blew out the lamp.

"The light in any case is dangerous as likely to attract attention,"
whispered Mr. Haydon. "Now, listen."

They listened intently for some time, but there was not the faintest
sound of any movement in the neighbourhood.

"I hope to goodness this rascal was working by himself," went on Mr.
Haydon, "and no one knew what he was about. We don't want a companion
peering in to see what has happened to him."

[Illustration: THE MIDNIGHT THIEF.]

"What under the sun are we going to do with him, father?" whispered
Jack.

"We must leave him tied up here and run for it," replied Mr. Haydon.
"I see nothing else that we can do."

"Nor I," replied Jack; "and the sooner we march the better. We don't
know that there was not someone outside to help him carry off the
spoil, and the accomplice may have learned of our presence."

"You are right, Jack," said his father.

"But there is Me Dain, we must pick him up," pursued Jack. "Without
him we do not know where to strike. How can we get hold of him?"

"The woman will be of service there," said his father. "She is our
only hope."

He spoke with the native woman for a few moments, then gave a whistle
of satisfaction below his breath.

"She knows where he is lodging, and thinks she can rouse him without
disturbing anyone else," whispered Mr. Haydon; "at any rate, she is
going to try."

The woman shuffled down the steps, and was gone in an instant.

"We may as well go down and be ready for a move," murmured Mr. Haydon,
"but we'll try this chap's knots first."

They examined the bound thief, and made certain that he could not
easily shuffle out of his bonds, then they went down to the main room
of the hut and posted themselves near the door.

The time they waited seemed never-ending. In reality it was not more
than twenty minutes. But when they feared that every sound would see
an alarm raised upon them and their escape hopelessly cut off, every
minute seemed an hour.

Jack had his eye at a huge crack in the door, and to his immense
relief he made out at last a couple of figures approaching the house
under the dim shade of the trees.

"Here they are," he breathed. "She's brought it off all right. I can
make out Me Dain."

Two seconds later the Burman shot into the hut with a stealthy,
no