me, I shall have
to go alone. I'm only waiting for a good opportunity."

For several days the opportunity tarried. Mrs. Wilson was too often
about the passages to make the expedition safe. On one occasion Cicely
went to act scout, but found the housemaid sweeping the top landing, and
had to beat a hasty retreat.

They were not able to discover where Lindsay's leg had descended so
suddenly through the rotten floor, or whether any of the ceilings in the
upper rooms had suffered in consequence. If Mrs. Wilson had found out
the damage, she kept her own counsel. When at last they managed to seize
a favourable chance, and to steal up the winding staircase, a sad
checkmate awaited them. The door of the lantern room was securely
fastened with a padlock.

"Scott said he was going to put one on," said Lindsay, after staring
blankly at the unwelcome impediment. "Don't you remember, when he was
talking to 'The Griffin' in the picture gallery, and she told him we had
been here?"

"I'm certain they suspect us," returned Cicely. "Perhaps they only took
part of the silver or jewellery away in that sack, and the rest is still
up in the garret."

The sole plan of action they could think of after this last
disappointment was to keep a watch upon Scott. If he had really
concealed a portion of the treasure in the garden, he would probably go
to look at it occasionally, to make sure of its safety. At Cicely's
urgent request they had already made a careful examination, with a
trowel, of the bank where Scott had been digging when they surprised him
in the dark. It was fruitless work, however; nothing was there.

"I told you beforehand they wouldn't be so foolish," said Lindsay.

"I thought they might have dropped a piece of money, or an ear-ring
perhaps, in their hurry--just something to show us what had actually
been here," said Cicely, grubbing about in the loose soil.

"Trust Scott and Mrs. Wilson! They're an uncommonly clever couple. You
may be sure they'd take care not to leave even a sixpence behind them."

"I've heard that criminals can't keep away from a place where they've
buried anything," continued Cicely. "They always haunt the spot."

"Then we must notice where Scott goes most frequently," replied Lindsay.

For the present, Scott seemed to be particularly attracted to the
cucumber frames.

"He's there constantly," said Cicely.

"Far oftener than is necessary, I'm sure," agreed Lindsay.

"It might be a likely plac