smiled.

"You shall have your rise out of the police, if you can, Middleton," he
observed. "It seems queer, though, to believe that the fellow's still in
hiding round here."

As though by common consent, they all stood, for a moment, perfectly
still, looking across the stretch of marshland with its boggy places, its
scrubby plantations, its clustering masses of tall grasses and bullrushes.
The grey twilight had become even more pronounced during the last few
minutes. Little wreaths of white mist hung over the damp places.
Everywhere was a queer silence. The very air seemed breathless. The
Professor shivered and turned away.

"My nerves," he declared, "are scarcely what they were. I have listened in
a primeval forest, listened for the soft rustling of a snake in the
undergrowth, or the distant roar of some beast of prey. I have listened
then with curiosity. I have not known fear. It seems to me, somehow, that
in this place there is something different afoot. I don't like it,
George--I don't like it. We will go home, if you please."

They made their way, single file, to the road and up to the house. Lord
Ashleigh did his best to dispel a queer little sensation of uneasiness
which seemed to have arisen in the minds of all of them.

"Come," he said, "we must put aside our disappointment for the present,
and remember that after all the chances are that Craig will never make his
escape alive. Let us forget him for a little while.... Mr. Quest," he
added, a few minutes later, as they reached the hall, "Moreton here will
show you to your room and look after you. Please let me know if you will
take an aperitif. I can recommend my sherry. We dine at eight o'clock.
Edgar, you know your way. The blue room, of course. I am coming up with
you myself. Her ladyship back yet, Moreton?"

"Not yet, my lord."

"Lady Ashleigh," her husband explained, "has gone to the other side of the
county to open a bazaar. She is looking forward to the pleasure of
welcoming you at dinner-time."

* * * * *

Dinner, served, out of compliment to their transatlantic visitor, in the
great banqueting hall, was to Quest especially a most impressive meal.
They sat at a small round table lit by shaded lights, in the centre of an
apartment which was large in reality, and which seemed vast by reason of
the shadows which hovered around the unlit spaces. From the walls frowned
down a long succession of family portraits--Ashlei