alighting on the ground as far from
Orme as possible, make off at top speed.

But now, to Orme's surprise, a figure swung from the lower branch
apparently without haste. Once on the ground, however, the stranger
leaped toward Orme.

An intuition led Orme to thrust out his left arm. It was quickly seized,
but before the assailant could twist it, Orme struck out with the wrench,
which was in his right hand. Swift though the motion was, his opponent
threw up his free arm and partly broke the force of the blow. But the
wrench reached his forehead nevertheless, and with a little moan, he
dropped to the ground in a heap.

As Orme knelt to search the man, another figure swung from the tree and
darted northward, disappearing in the darkness. Orme did not pursue--it
was useless--but a sickening intuition told him that the man who had
escaped was the man who had the envelope.

He struck a match. The man on the ground was moving uneasily and moaning.
There was a scar on his forehead. It was Maku.

He went through the unconscious man's pockets. There was no envelope such
as he was looking for, but he did find a folded slip of paper which he
thrust into his own pocket. A discovery that interested him, though it
was not now important, he made by the light of a second match. It was the
marked five-dollar bill. He would have liked to take it as a souvenir, if
for no other reason, but time was short and Maku, who evidently was not
seriously hurt, showed signs of returning consciousness.

Another occurrence also hastened him. A man was strolling along the lake
shore, not far away. Orme had not seen his approach, though he was
distinctly outlined against the open background of lake and sky. The
stranger stopped. The striking of the two matches had attracted his
attention.

"Have you lost something?" he called.

"No," Orme replied.

The man started toward Orme, as if to investigate, and then Orme noticed
that outlined on his head was a policeman's helmet.

To be found going through the pockets of an unconscious man was not to
Orme's liking. It might be possible to explain the situation well enough
to satisfy the local authorities, but that would involve delays fatal to
any further effort to catch the man with the envelope.

So he jumped to his feet and ran northward, then turned to the west.
Circling about, he made for the gate at which he had entered. His pursuer
either took the wrong lead in the darkness or stopped to exami