of what promised to be an exceedingly good supper. There were sundry
bottles, too, with gold foil about the necks, and when the hamper had
been emptied Foster repaired to the kitchen and presently reappeared
with a tray laden with plates and dishes, the requisite number of
glasses and knives and forks, and a tablecloth. Judging from the smell,
Copley was smoking in the dining-room whilst his accomplice was
preparing the supper. Matters had progressed thus far when Phillips
stole gently back, carrying a long very thin slip of wood from a broken
board, the end of which he had whittled to a fine point.

"I've found it," he said. "If I lean over the banisters I can jam the
point of this stick into the eye of the burner, and put out the gas.
They won't be able to light it again for a while. Is it safe?"

The sudden pop of a cork was heard.

"Sounds like it," Fielden whispered. "I think Foster carried in
everything and they are at supper. Now is your time."

Phillips leant over the banisters, and at the second attempt thrust the
sharpened end of the long strip of wood into the eye of the burner.
There was a feeble flicker or two, and then the whole place was wrapped
in darkness. He was only just in time, for almost on the same instant
Foster came out of the dining-room. They heard him muttering that the
gas had gone wrong, and watched him, faintly outlined by a match, strive
in vain to light the gas once more. After the third attempt he abandoned
the effort with an oath and went back to the dining-room. Straining
their ears, the two men on the landing could hear Copley's reply.

"Choked up with dust, I suppose. But never mind so long as we are all
right. Sit down and eat. I daresay those other fellows will be some time
yet."

Phillips whispered in his companion's ear.

"I think we shall be safe. What do you say to creep away now we have the
opportunity? Or would it be worth while to stay outside the dining-room
and listen to what they're talking about? It is pitch dark, and we can
slope at any moment."

Fielden was feeling reckless. It did not matter what happened. Without
further ado they tiptoed into the hall where, by the aid of the intense
stillness and a door ajar, they commanded all that was going on. Copley
sat at one end of the table, facing Foster at the other. For some time
the two men ate steadily with an appetite sharpened by their drive
through the cold air. When the meal was finished Copley pushed his ch