y; "see
that you do not make a greater. We will forgive you once, but the second
attempt will be fatal."

CHAPTER XII

The distant chime of Little Bradley church had struck one o'clock, when
T. B. Smith stepped from the shadow of the hedge on the east side of the
Secret House, and walked slowly toward the road. Two men, crouched in
the darkness, rose silently to meet him.

"I think I have found a place," said T. B., in a low voice. "As I
thought, there are electric alarms on the top of the walls, and electric
wires threaded through all the hedges. There is a break, however, where,
I think, I can circumvent the alarm."

He led the way back to the place from which he had been making his
reconnaissance.

"Here it is," said T. B.

He touched a thin twine-like wire with his finger. The third man put the
concentrated ray of an electric lamp upon it.

"I can make another circuit for this," he said, and pulled a length of
wire from his pocket. Two minutes later, thanks to quick manipulation of
his wire, they were able to step in safety across the wall and drop
noiselessly into the grounds.

"We shall find a man on duty," whispered T. B.; "he is patrolling the
house, and I have an idea that there are trip-wires on the lawn."

He had fixed a funnel-like arrangement to the head of his lamp, and now
he carefully scrutinized the ground as he walked forward. The funnel was
so fixed that it showed no light save on the actual patch of ground he
was surveying.

"Here is one," he said, suddenly.

The party stepped cautiously over the almost invisible line of wire,
supported a few inches from the ground by steel uprights, placed at
regular intervals.

"They fix these every night after sunset; I have watched them doing it,"
said T. B. "There is another line nearer the house."

They found this, too, and carefully negotiated it.

"Down!" whispered T. B. suddenly, and the party sank flat on the turf.

Ela for a moment could not see the cause for alarm, but presently he
discerned the slow moving figure of the sentry as it passed between
them and the house. The man was walking leisurely along, and even in the
starlight they could see the short rifle slung at his shoulder. They
waited until he had disappeared round the corner of the house, and then
crossed the remaining space of lawn. T. B. had been carrying a little
canvas bag, and now he put his hand inside and withdrew by the ears a
struggling rabbit.

"Little fr