py to answer any questions you may ask," said
Mr. Shaw.

Pedro nodded, half defiantly, as though he felt humiliated by being placed
at the service, even a verbal one, of a boy, and Ned asked:

"When you saw the men at the head of the staircase, what did you say to
them?"

The answer came in perfect English, yet there was a something in the voice
which told as plainly as words could have done that English was not the
native tongue of the speaker.

"I ordered them from the house," he said.

"And then they attacked you?"

"The mark of a hand is on my throat, sir."

"How many men were there?"

"Two, sir, and they both piled on top of me."

"There was no one else in the corridor?"

"No one."

"They were armed, I presume?"

"I saw no weapons in their hands."

"They might have killed you?"

"Only for the arrival of Master Shaw they might have done so."

"Can you describe these men?" asked Ned.

"I don't think I can, sir. I was too busy to notice their faces or their
clothes during the short time I was with them."

"Can you say whether one of them was tall and slender, with very black
hair, turning gray in places?" asked Ned, fixing his eyes on those of the
servant.

Pedro looked back at his questioner for an instant, and then his gaze fell
to the floor.

"I can't say," he replied, slowly, while the others, amazed at the
character of the question, turned to Ned for explanation.

"If the description I have given is recognized by you as that of one of
the men you met in the corridor," Ned went on, "can you tell me whether
his clothing was wet or dry?"

There was dead silence in the room. There had been nothing thus far in the
case leading up to this description, and those present looked at Ned with
wonder in their faces. To say the least, the questions seemed irrelevant.

Pedro stood for a moment touching his dry lips with the tip of his tongue,
his fingers clasping and unclasping, then his shoulders straightened into
firmer lines and he faced his questioner with a smile of complacency.

"I don't know what you mean," he said.

"Perhaps I should have said damp clothing," Ned replied. "The man I have
in mind--the man who might have been one of your assailants--entered the
house just after the rainstorm, which came on close after six o'clock. His
clothing was soaking wet when he came in, but would not remain so for four
hours."

Pedro grasped the back of a chair which stood near him and looked out of