ut to drink, lowered his glass again and
frowned.

"I don't see anything to laugh at," he said, deliberately.

"He can't have been listening," said Mr. Tredgold, in a low voice, to
Miss Drewitt.

"Well, it's done now," said the captain, genially. "You--you're not
going?"

"Yes, I am," said Mr. Stobell.

He bade them good-night, and then pausing at the door stood and surveyed
them; even Mr. Tasker, who was gliding in unobtrusively with a jug of
water, shared in his regards.

"When I think of the orphans and widows," he said, bitterly, "I----"

He opened the door suddenly and, closing it behind him, breathed the rest
to Dialstone Lane. An aged woman sitting in a doorway said, "_Hush!_"

CHAPTER VI

Miss Drewitt sat for some time in her room after the visitors had
departed, eyeing with some disfavour the genuine antiques which she owed
to the enterprise, not to say officiousness, of Edward Tredgold. That
they were in excellent taste was undeniable, but there was a flavour of
age and a suspicion of decay about them which did not make for
cheerfulness.

She rose at last, and taking off her watch went through the nightly task
of wondering where she had put the key after using it last. It was not
until she had twice made a fruitless tour of the room with the candle
that she remembered that she had left it on the mantelpiece downstairs.

The captain was still below, and after a moment's hesitation she opened
her door and went softly down the steep winding stairs.

The door at the foot stood open, and revealed the captain standing by the
table. There was an air of perplexity and anxiety about him such as she
had never seen before, and as she waited he crossed to the bureau, which
stood open, and searched feverishly among the papers which littered it.
Apparently dissatisfied with the result, he moved it out bodily and
looked behind and beneath it. Coming to an erect position again he
suddenly became aware of the presence of his niece.

[Illustration: "He moved it out bodily and looked behind and beneath
it."]

"It's gone," he said, in an amazed voice.

"Gone?" repeated Prudence. "What has gone?"

"The map," said the captain, tumbling his beard. "I put it in this end
pigeon-hole the other night after showing it and I haven't touched it
since; and it's gone."

"But you burnt it!" said Prudence, with an astonished laugh.

The captain started. "No; I was going to," he said, eyeing her in
manif