, and
closing the door softly behind him, the policeman's suspicions were
aroused, and he hurried forward, hailing the cabman to stop.

"The man put his burden into the cab, and sprang in himself. The cabman
lashed his horse, which started off at a gallop, and the policeman broke
into a run, blowing his whistle and flashing his lantern on to the cab.
He followed it round the two turnings into Albemarle Street, and was
just in time to see it turn into Piccadilly, where, of course, it was
lost. However, he managed to note the number of the cab, which was
72,863, and he describes the man as short and thick-set, and thinks he
was not wearing any hat.

"As he was returning, he met the inspector and the sergeant, who had
heard the whistle, and on his report the three officers hurried to the
house, where they knocked and rang for some minutes without any result.
Being now more than suspicious, they went to the back of the house,
through the mews, where, with great difficulty, they managed to force a
window and effect an entrance into the house.

"Here their suspicions were soon changed to certainty, for, on reaching
the first-floor, they heard strange muffled groans proceeding from one
of the rooms, the door of which was locked, though the key had not been
removed. They opened the door, and found the caretaker and his wife
sitting on the floor, with their backs against the wall. Both were bound
hand and foot, and the head of each was enveloped in a green-baize bag;
and when the bags were taken off, each was found to be lightly but
effectively gagged.

"Each told the same story. The caretaker, fancying he heard a noise,
armed himself with a truncheon, and came downstairs to the first-floor,
where he found the door of one of the rooms open, and a light burning
inside. He stepped on tiptoe to the open door, and was peering in, when
he was seized from behind, half suffocated by a pad held over his mouth,
pinioned, gagged, and blindfolded with the bag.

"His assailant--whom he never saw--was amazingly strong and skilful, and
handled him with perfect ease, although he--the caretaker--is a powerful
man, and a good boxer and wrestler. The same thing happened to the wife,
who had come down to look for her husband. She walked into the same
trap, and was gagged, pinioned, and blindfolded without ever having soon
the robber. So the only description that we have of this villain is that
furnished by the constable."

"And the caretake