l, and in a few minutes was at the police
station. There he saw the superintendent, and after a little trouble got
him to fall in with the plan which he had devised.

As a result of their conference a large car left the city shortly before
nine, in which were seated Inspector Willis and eight picked constables
in plain clothes. They drove to the end of the Ferriby Lane, where
the men dismounted, and took cover behind some shrubs, while the car
returned towards Hull.

It was almost, but not quite dark. There was no moon, but the sky was
clear and the stars were showing brightly. A faint air, in which there
was already a touch of chill, sighed gently through the leaves, rising
at intervals almost to a breeze, then falling away again to nothing.
Lights were showing here and there--yellow gleams from unshaded windows,
signal lamps from the railway, navigation lights from the river. Except
for the sound of the retreating car and the dull roar of a distant
train, the night was very still, a night, in fact, pre-eminently
suitable for the inspector's purpose.

The nine men moved silently down the lane at intervals of a few minutes,
their rubber-shod feet making no sound on the hard surface. Willis went
first, and as the others reached him he posted them in the positions on
which he had previously decided. One man took cover behind the hedge of
the lane, a short distance on the distillery side of the wharf, another
behind a pile of old material on the railway at the same place, a third
hid himself among some bushes on the open ground between the railway and
the river, while a fourth crept as near to the end of the wharf as the
tide would allow, so as to watch approaches from the water. When
they were in position, Willis felt convinced no one could leave the
syndicate's depot for the distillery without being seen.

The other four men he led on to the distillery, placing them in a
similar manner on its Ferriby side. If by some extraordinary chance the
messenger with the "stuff" should pass the first cordon, the second,
he was satisfied, would take him. He left himself free to move about as
might appear desirable.

The country was extraordinarily deserted. Not one of the nine men had
seen a living soul since they left their motor, and Willis felt certain
that his dispositions had been carried out in absolute secrecy.

He crossed the fence on to the railway. By climbing half-way up the
ladder of a signal he was able to see the