"What makes you ask?" I enquired.

"I--I don't know," she replied, with obvious embarrassment.

"There must be something or you would not have asked," I said
encouragingly. "Come--out with it."

She still hesitated, but the housemaid was bolder. "I'll tell the
gentleman if you don't, Sarah," she declared. "It's like this, sir," she
rattled out volubly: "the master, Mr. Mannering that is, has been so
queer in his ways lately that Sarah and me 'as been quite scared. Not
that he 'asn't been quite the gentleman. He always was that, wasn't he,
Sarah? But he's been that restless and bound up in himself
lately--walking up and down in his room and talking to himself. He
always was one to shut himself up in that nasty old coach-house with his
experiments and things, but he was quiet, and we never took no account
of it. But lately he's been different."

"How?" I asked.

"Well, instead of going to bed like a Christian he's up all hours of the
night. It ain't only that. He slips out as if he didn't want us to see
him, and when we've known he hasn't been at home we've found he's taken
the trouble to tumble the bed to make it appear as how he slept in it."

"Pooh!" I remarked. "If that's all, my servants would probably say the
same about me. You need not be alarmed about such trifles."

"But it's not all," said Sarah, taking up the story. "The nights he goes
out are just the nights the Pirate makes his appearance."

"Those are just the nights I am away from home," I said.

"But you have the detective gentleman with you," argued the girl, "and
when you come back I warrant you do not bring diamond studs back with
you that don't belong to you."

"What!" I cried. "What!"

"It's truth, sir," said the housemaid. "A week ago, just after he came
back from Paris, I was sweeping the floor of his bedroom, when I sweeps
up a diamond stud. Now, I knew he never had such a thing----"

"I suppose you know exactly what jewellery he has?" I interrupted,
laughing.

"He always was a very careless gentleman until the last month, before
which he left his things lying about all over the place, but then he had
a safe put in his bedroom, and he never so much as left the key lying
about. However, I mentions the stud to Sarah, and we talks it over and
puts two and two together, and Sarah thinks that if he doesn't ask what
has become of it, it might be as well as if we told the detective
gentleman about it."

"Quite right," I remarked. "You mi