was to get out of
the bank; for the stars were drowning in a sky of ink and water, and it
was a comfort to feel that we could fly straight to our beds. I said
so in whispers as Raffles cautiously opened our window and peeped out.
In an instant his head was in, and for another I feared the worst.

"What was that, Bunny? No, you don't, my son! There's not a soul in
sight that I can see, but you never know, and we may as well lay a
scent while we're about it. Ready? Then follow me, and never mind the
window."

With that he dropped softly into the street, and I after him, turning
to the right instead of the left, and that at a brisk trot instead of
the innocent walk which had brought us to the bank. Like mice we
scampered past the great schoolroom, with its gable snipping a paler
sky than ever, and the shadows melting even in the colonnade
underneath. Masters' houses flitted by on the left, lesser landmarks
on either side, and presently we were running our heads into the dawn,
one under either hedge of the Stockley road.

"Did you see that light in Nab's just now?" cried Raffles as he led.

"No; why?" I panted, nearly spent.

"It was in Nab's dressing-room.

"Yes?"

"I've seen it there before," continued Raffles. "He never was a good
sleeper, and his ears reach to the street. I wouldn't like to say how
often I was chased by him in the small hours! I believe he knew who it
was toward the end, but Nab was not the man to accuse you of what he
couldn't prove."

I had no breath for comment. And on sped Raffles like a yacht before
the wind, and on I blundered like a wherry at sea, making heavy weather
all the way, and nearer foundering at every stride. Suddenly, to my
deep relief, Raffles halted, but only to tell me to stop my pipes while
he listened.

"It's all right, Bunny," he resumed, showing me a glowing face in the
dawn. "History's on its own tracks once more, and I'll bet you it's
dear old Nab on ours! Come on, Bunny; run to the last gasp, and leave
the rest to me."

I was past arguing, and away he went. There was no help for it but to
follow as best I could. Yet I had vastly preferred to collapse on the
spot, and trust to Raffles's resource, as before very long I must. I
had never enjoyed long wind and the hours that we kept in town may well
have aggravated the deficiency. Raffles, however, was in first-class
training from first-class cricket, and he had no mercy on Nab or me.
But the master