were made for the entrance to The Lawn to be
watched for the next twenty-four hours by reliefs of out-door servants
whom we could trust, and instructions were issued that the moment Mr.
Vandy Pleydell put in an appearance, whether by day or night, we were to
be informed.

At eight o'clock the next morning Berry came into my room.

"They're off," he said. "Thirty-five minutes ago Vandy and Emma and May
arrived, unaccompanied, in a four-wheeled dogcart. He'd got the key of
the gates, but the difficulty of getting them open single-handed appears
to have been titanic. They seem to have stuck, or something. Altogether,
according to James, a most distressing scene. However. Eventually they
got inside and managed to shut the gates after them. In the dogcart
there was a scythe and a whole armoury of tools."

I got out of bed and looked at him.

"After breakfast?" I queried.

My brother-in-law nodded.

"I think so. We'll settle the premises as we go."

* * * * *

As we were approaching The Lawn, I looked at my watch. It was just a
quarter to ten.

The little door in the wall was still unbolted, and a very little
expenditure of energy sufficed to admit my brother-in-law, Nobby, and
myself into the garden.

So far as the Sealyham was concerned, 'the Wilderness was Paradise
enow.' Tail up, he plunged into the welter of grass, leaping and
wallowing and panting with surprise and delight at a playground which
surpassed his wildest dreams. For a moment we watched him amusedly. Then
we pushed the door to and started to saunter towards the house.

It was a glorious day, right at the end of August. Out of a flawless sky
the sun blazed, broiling and merciless. There was nowhere a breath of
wind, and in the sheltered garden--always a sun-trap--the heat was
stifling.

As we drew near, the sound of voices, raised in bitterness, fell upon
our ears, and we rounded the corner of the building to find Vandy
waist-high in the grass about the sundial, shaking a sickle at his
sisters, who were seated upon carriage cushions, which had been laid
upon the flags, and demanding furiously "how the devil they expected him
to reap with a sweeping motion when the god-forsaken lawn was full of
molehills."

"Quite right," said Berry. "It can't be done."

Emma and May screamed, and Vandy jumped as if he had been shot. Then,
with a snarl, he turned to face us, crouching a little, like a beast at
bay. Before he cou