d not a
little alarmed at the strength and vitality of this man. And only a few
hours before Williams had learnt with deep satisfaction that Henson would
be confined to his bed for some days.

Henson dressed at length and packed a small portmanteau. But he had to
sit on his bed for some little time and sip a further dose of brandy
before he could move farther. After all there was no hurry. A full hour
was sure to elapse before the leisurely Barnes brought the cab to the
lodge-gates.

Henson crept downstairs at length and trod his catlike way to the
library. Once there he proceeded to make a minute inspection of the
telephone. He turned the handle just the fragment of an inch and a queer
smile came over his face. Then he crept as silently upstairs, opened the
window of the bathroom quietly, and slipped on to the leads. There were a
couple of insulators here, against the wire of one of which Henson tapped
his knuckles gently. The wire gave back an answering twang. The other
jangled limp and loose.

"One of the wires cut," Henson muttered. "I expected as much. Madame Enid
is getting a deal too clever. I suppose this is some suggestion of her
very astute friend David Steel. Well, I have given Mr. Steel one lesson
in minding his own business, and if he interferes further I shall have to
give him another. He will be in gaol before long charged with attempted
murder and robbery with violence, and so exit Steel. After that the girl
will be perhaps chary of seeking outside assistance. And this will be the
third I have had to get rid of. Heavens! How feeble I feel, how weak I
am. And yet I must go through this thing now."

He staggered into the house again and dropped into a chair. There was a
loud buzzing in his ears, so that he could hardly hear the murmur of
voices in the drawing-room below. This was annoying, because Henson
liked to hear everything that other folks said. Then he dropped off into
a kind of dreamy state, coming back presently to the consciousness that
he had fainted.

Meanwhile Frank Littimer had joined Enid in the drawing-room. The house
was perfectly quiet and still by this time; the dust-cloud hung on the
air and caused the lamps to burn with a spitting blue flame. Enid's face
looked deadly pale against her black dress.

"So you have been seeing Reginald," she said. "Why--why did you do it?"

"I didn't mean to," Frank muttered. "I never intended him to know that I
had been in the house at all. But I