one o'clock and walked
up to Hampstead Heath, as far as Jack Straw's Castle and back. The night
was perfect. Really, Londoners who sleep heavily all night lose the best
part of their lives. London is only beautiful in the night hours and
at early dawn. I often watch the sun rise from the Thames Embankment.
I have a favourite seat--just beyond Scotland Yard. I've become quite a
night-bird these days. I sleep when the sun shines, and with a sandwich
box and a flask I go long tramps at night, just as others do who, like
myself, are concealing their identity."

"But when will all this end?" queried the girl, as together they
strolled in the direction of Bayswater, passing many whispering couples
sitting on seats. London lovers enjoy the park at all hours of the
twenty-four.

"It will only end when I am able to discover the truth," he said
vaguely. "Meanwhile I am not disheartened, darling, because--because I
know that you believe in me--that you still trust me."

"That man whom I saw in Nice dressed as a cavalier, and who again came
to me in Scotland, is a mystery," she said. "Do you really believe he is
the person you suspect?"

"I do. I still believe he is the notorious and defiant criminal 'Il
Passero'--the most daring and ingenious thief of the present century."

"But he is evidently your friend."

"Yes. That is the great mystery of it all. I cannot discern his motive."

"Is it a sinister one, do you think?"

"No. I do not believe so. I have heard of The Sparrow's fame from the
lips of many criminals, but none has uttered a single word against him.
He is, I hear, fierce, bitter, and relentless towards those who are his
enemies. To his friends, however, he is staunchly loyal. That is what is
said of him."

"But, Hugh, I wish you would be more frank with me," the girl said.
"There are several things you are hiding from me."

"I admit it, darling," he blurted forth, holding her hand in the
darkness as they walked. The ecstasy and the bliss of that moment
held him almost without words. She was as life to him. He pursued that
soul-deadening evasion, and lived that grey, sordid life among men and
women escaping from justice solely for her sake. If he married Louise
Lambert and then cast off the matrimonial shackles he would recover his
patrimony and be well-off.

To many men the temptation would have proved too great. The inheritance
of his father's fortune was so very easy. Louise was a pretty girl, well
educat