t his office, I presume."

She said that he was, but this time the visitor exhibited neither
surprise nor disappointment.

"I thought he would be," he confessed confidentially, "and I have come
to see whether I couldn't do something to help you to get at the bottom
of these troublesome goings on. Anything fresh happened?"

"The master was out in the garden again last night, sir!" said she.

"Was he really?" cried Mr. Carrington. "By Jove, how curious! We really
must look into that: in fact, I've got an idea I want you to help me
with. By the way, it sounds an odd question to ask about Mr. Rattar, but
have you ever seen any sign of a pipe or tobacco in the house?"

"Oh, never indeed!" said she. "The master has never been a smoking
gentleman. Quite against smoking he's always been, sir."

"Ever since you have known him?"

"Oh, and before that, sir."

"Ah!" observed Mr. Carrington in a manner that suggested nothing
whatever. "Well, Mary, I want this morning to have a look round the
garden."

Her eyes opened.

"Because the master walks there at nights?"

He nodded confidentially.

"But--but if he was to know you'd been interfering, sir--I mean what
he'd think was interfering, sir--"

"He shan't know," he assured her. "At least not if you'll do what I tell
you. I want you to go now and have a nice quiet talk with cook for half
an hour--half an hour by the kitchen clock, Mary. If you don't look out
of the window, you won't know that I'm in the garden, and then nobody
can blame you whatever happens. We haven't mentioned the word 'garden'
between us--so you are out of it! Remember that."

He smiled so pleasantly that Mary smiled back.

"I'll remember, sir," said she. "And cook is to be kept talking in the
kitchen?"

"You've tumbled to it exactly, Mary. If neither of you see me, neither
of you know anything at all."

She got a last glimpse of his sympathetic smile as she closed the door,
and then she went faithfully to the kitchen for her talk with cook. It
was quite a pleasant gossip at first, but half an hour is a long time to
keep talking, when one has been asked not to stop sooner, and it so
happened, moreover, that cook was somewhat busy that morning and began
at length to indicate distinctly that unless her friend had some matter
of importance to communicate she would regard further verbiage with
disfavour. At this juncture Mary decided that twenty minutes was
practically as good as half an hour, and