o the finest set of nerves in Europe.

Then, to my horror, he coolly stooped, placing candle and chair on the
leads, and his hands in his pockets, as though it were but a popgun
that covered him.

"Why didn't you shoot?" he asked insolently as he rose. "Frightened of
the noise? I should be, too, with an old-pattern machine like that.
All very well for service in the field--but on the house-tops at dead
of night!"

"I shall shoot, however," replied Lord Ernest, as quietly in his turn,
and with less insolence, "and chance the noise, unless you instantly
restore my property. I am glad you don't dispute the last word," he
continued after a slight pause. "There is no keener honor than that
which subsists, or ought to subsist, among thieves; and I need hardly
say that I soon spotted you as one of the fraternity. Not in the
beginning, mind you! For the moment I did think you were one of these
smart detectives jumped to life from some sixpenny magazine; but to
preserve the illusion you ought to provide yourself with a worthier
lieutenant. It was he who gave your show away," chuckled the wretch,
dropping for a moment the affected style of speech which seemed
intended to enhance our humiliation; "smart detectives don't go about
with little innocents to assist them. You needn't be anxious about
him, by the way; it wasn't necessary to pitch him into the street; he
is to be seen though not heard, if you look in the right direction.
Nor must you put all the blame upon your friend; it was not he, but
you, who made so sure that I had got out by the window. You see, I was
in my bathroom all the time--with the door open."

"The bathroom, eh?" Raffles echoed with professional interest. "And you
followed us on foot across the park?"

"Of course."

"And then in a cab?"

"And afterwards on foot once more."

"The simplest skeleton would let you in down below."

I saw the lower half of Lord Ernest's face grinning in the light of the
candle set between them on the ground.

"You follow every move," said he; "there can be no doubt you are one of
the fraternity; and I shouldn't wonder if we had formed our style upon
the same model. Ever know A. J. Raffles?"

The abrupt question took my breath away; but Raffles himself did not
lose an instant over his answer.

"Intimately," said he.

"That accounts for you, then," laughed Lord Ernest, "as it does for me,
though I never had the honor of the master's acquaintance. Nor