r noses.... Wouldn't you
cheerfully blow the four thousand just to avoid that?"

My sister's eyes flashed, and Jonah's chin went up.

"Anything," said Daphne emphatically, "anything would be better than
that."

So was the decision made.

We adjourned to the drawing-room, and for the rest of the evening
discussed the matter furiously.

The suggestion that Vandy would not wait to buy, but had already got to
work at The Lawn, was summarily dismissed. Our cousin was too cautious
for that. He knew that the moment we had the book, we should be as wise
as he, and that, since we were at loggerheads, we should certainly not
sit quietly by and permit him to enrich himself to our teeth, when a
word to the owners of The Lawn would compel him to disgorge any treasure
he found. No, Vandy was no fool. He would walk circumspectly, and buy
first and dig afterwards.

It was Jonah who raised the question of "treasure trove." In some
uneasiness we sought for a book of law. Investigation, however,
satisfied us that, if the plate were ever unearthed, the Crown would not
interfere. Evidence that an ancestor had buried it was available, and
reference to the will of Nicholas would establish its identity. Whether
it belonged to us or to Vandy was another matter, but Reason suggested
that Law and Equity alike would favour the party in whose land it was
found.

We ordered breakfast early and the car at a quarter to nine, but, for
all that, it was past midnight before we went to bed.

The next morning, for once in a way, we were up to time. Two minutes
after the quarter we were all six in the car, and it was not yet nine
o'clock when Jonah pulled up in the shade of a mighty oak less than a
hundred paces from the tall iron gates which stood gaunt, rusty and
forbidding, to mar the beauty of the quiet by-road.

So far as we could see there was no one about, but we were anxious not
to attract attention, so Berry and I alighted and strolled casually
forward.

The object of our visit was, of course, to learn from the board in whose
hands the property had been placed for sale. But we had decided that, if
it were possible, we must effect an entrance, to see whether the turf
about the sundial had been disturbed. Moreover, if we could get Adele
inside, it would be highly interesting to see whether she recognized the
place.

Wired on to the mouldering gates, a weather-beaten board glared at us.

_FREEHOLD
with immediate possession
TO BE SOLD