sappeared
though a door in the back wall of the office.

Willis softly opened the door, which was not locked, and peered into a
small store, evidently used for filing. The wires were carried down the
back of the architrave molding and along the top of the wainscoting,
until finally they disappeared into the side of one of a series of
cupboards which lined the wall opposite the door. The cupboard was
locked, but with the help of the bent wire it soon stood open
and Willis, flashing in a beam from his electric torch, saw with
satisfaction that he had attained at least one of his objects. A
telephone receiver similar to that at the syndicate's depot was within.

He examined the remaining contents of the room, but found nothing of
interest until he came to the door. This was solidly made and edged with
rubber, and he felt sure that it would be almost completely sound-proof.
It was, moreover, furnished with a well-oiled lock.

"Pretty complete arrangement," Willis thought as he turned back to the
outer office. Here he conducted another of his meticulous examinations,
but unfortunately with a negative result.

Having silently unlocked the door and pulled up the blinds, he climbed
out on the window sill and closed the window. He was unable to refasten
the hasp, and had therefore to leave this evidence of his visit, though
he hoped and believed it would not be noticed.

Lifting down the ladder, he carried it to the cottage and hid it
therein. Part of his task was done, and he must wait for daylight to
complete the remainder.

When some three hours later the coming dawn had made objects visible, he
again emerged armed with his tools and coil of insulated wire. Digging
a hole at the bottom of the down-pipe, he connected his wires just below
the ground level to those of the telephone. Then inserting his spade
along the face of the wall from the pipe to the hedge, he pushed back
the adjoining soil, placed the wires in the narrow trench thus made, and
trod the earth back into place. When the hole at the down-spout had been
filled, practically no trace remained of the disturbance.

The ground along the inside of the hedge being thickly grown over with
weeds and grass, he did not think it necessary to dig a trench for the
wire, simply bedding it beneath the foliage. But he made a spade cut
across the sward from the hedge to the cottage door, sank in the wire
and trod out the cut. Once he had passed the tiny cable beneath the
f