direction,
warned her that if she cried out he would shoot. He then demanded to
know where she kept her jewels, and Mrs. Comminge, too terrified to
do anything else, indicated a drawer in which lay her jewel-case.

Taking the jewel-case and putting it under his arm, the man
threatened that if she moved or called out within a quarter of an
hour he would return and shoot her. He then got out of the window on
to a small balcony and disappeared.

It seems that he gained admittance by clambering up some ivy and
thus on to the narrow balcony that runs the length of one side of
the house.

Immediately on the man's disappearance, Mrs. Comminge fainted. On
coming to she gave the alarm, and the police were immediately
telephoned for. Although the man's footprints are easily discernible
upon the mould and the soft turf, the culprit seems to have left no
other clue.

The description that Mrs. Comminge is able to give of her assailant
is rather lacking in detail, owing to the shock she experienced at
his sudden appearance. It would appear that the man is of medium
height and slight of build. He wore a cap and a black handkerchief
tied across his face just beneath his eyes, which entirely masked
his features. With this very inadequate description of the ruffian
the police have perforce to set to work upon the very difficult task
of tracing him.

For some time Malcolm Sage pondered over the cutting, then rising he
replaced the volume and rang for Thompson.

An hour later Tims was carrying him along in the direction of Sir
Roger Glanedale's house at a good thirty-five miles an hour.

The Home Park was an Elizabethan mansion that had been acquired by
Sir Roger Glanedale out of enormous profits made upon the sale of
margarine. As Tims brought the car up before the front entrance with
an impressive sweep, the hall-door was thrown open by the butler,
who habitually strove by an excessive dignity of demeanour to remove
from his mental palate the humiliating flavour of margarine.

Malcolm Sage's card considerably mitigated the impression made upon
Mr. Hibbs's mind by the swing with which Tims had brought the car up
to the door.

Malcolm Sage was shown into the morning-room and told that her
ladyship would see him in a few minutes. He was busy in the
contemplation of the garden when the door opened and Lady Glanedale
entered.

He bowed and then, as Lady Glanedale seated herself at a small table,
he took the nearest chair.

Sh