t girthed individual in the pink
striped pajamas and tasselled nightcap had accomplished his awful
purpose, but the climax had been anti-climax and Phelan had ground his
teeth in rage.

He had been on the point of bursting through the window and somehow
scrambling aloft to the rescue of that helpless being who was being
ground and wrenched and pounded by that porcine monster, when the
monster suddenly rose to view again with a dumb-bell in each hand.

The jaw of Officer 666 slowly dropped as he watched the manipulation
of the dumb-bells. There was no passion in the stodgy movements of the
great paddy arms. Even so far away as he was Phelan could see that the
man puffed and blew and that his vigor was slowly waning. Then
suddenly the huge man stooped and held up in plain view a dangling
wrestling dummy.

The lone watcher swallowed a savage oath.

"Sure 'twas exercisin' an' not murther he was doin'," Phelan hissed
through his teeth.

His anger was white hot. Again he had been the victim of delusion and
had wasted heroic emotions on a stuffed dummy that served merely as an
inanimate instrument in a course of anti-fat calisthenics.

Every nerve in Phelan's body was fairly a-bristle as he made his way
upstairs and burst into the great drawing-room and picture gallery.

"Fer the love o' hivin," he cried, "give me me uniform and let me out
o' here."

"Here's your uniform; I've had enough of it," replied Gladwin,
throwing him the coat and cap, "and get into it quick. There's work
for you right in this house."

"There is not, nor play neither," snapped Phelan. "I've got to go out
and chase up a drunk or throw a faint or git run over or somethin'
desperate to square mesilf with the captain. I'm an hour overdue at
the station."

"You'll square yourself with the captain all right if you just do what
I tell you," said Gladwin eagerly, helping him on with his coat and
pushing him toward the window recess. "You go right in there behind
those curtains and wait till I call you."

Phelan took one look at the young man's face and muttered as he
obeyed. "This must be a hell of a joke."

And just then the thief breezed in again, jerking back on his heels as
he caught sight of Gladwin _sans_ uniform, _sans_ moustache and _sans_
eyebrows. But a glance at that young man meant volumes and there was
no limit to his spontaneous resources. He summoned a laugh and jerked
out:

"Oh, so you've resigned from the force?"

"Yes," ret