lly can vouch for the accuracy of every fact which I
chronicle. You see I am not a professional historian.

How it happened that I am in a position to give hitherto unknown
particulars about the Motor Pirate will appear in the course of my
narrative. Sufficient for the moment let it be for me to say that it was
purely by chance that the opportunity was thrown in my way; though, as
it happened, it was not entirely without my own volition that I became
involved in the network of events which finally resulted in the tragedy
which closed his career. By that tragedy the world lost a brilliant
thinker and inventor, though unfortunately these great talents were
accompanied by an abnormal condition of mind, which led the owner to
utilise his invention in criminal pursuits.

It may probably seem strange that, being in possession of facts as to
the identity of this mysterious person, I did not lay them before the
police, who, at any time during the three months of his criminal career,
would have given their ears to lay him by the heels. You may even think
it is their duty to take proceedings against me as an accomplice. Well,
I am quite prepared to answer any question which the police, or any one
else for that matter, desires to put to me. James Sutgrove, of Sutgrove
Hall, Norfolk, is not likely to change his address. When my poor old
governor died he left me sufficient excuse, in the shape of real estate,
for remaining in the country of my birth; though, if the necessity had
arisen, I should not have hesitated about going abroad. At twenty-five,
my age within a few weeks, a man has usually sufficient energy to enable
him to carve out a career for himself in a new country, and I do not
think I am very different to my fellows in that respect. But the fact
is, I have nothing to fear from the police. My criminality was less than
theirs. An ordinary citizen may be forgiven if he is blind to the
meaning of things which occur under his nose, but the police are
expected to be possessed of somewhat sharper vision. The utmost that can
be urged against me is, that if my eyes had been keener than those of
Scotland Yard, reinforced by the trained vision of some hundreds of
intelligent chief constables throughout the country, I might have been
able to lay my hands upon the Motor Pirate before--but I must not
anticipate my story.

One word of apology, however, before I begin. In order to make my
narrative fully intelligible I shall have to r