lead each other home from the last
train. It was none of our business to spy upon these boys, but their
manners and customs fell within the field of observation. And we did
not choose the night upon which the whole row was likely to be kept
awake.

The night that we did choose was as misty as even the Thames Valley is
capable of making them. Raffles smeared vaseline upon the plated parts
of his Beeston Humber before starting, and our dear landlady cosseted
us both, and prayed we might see nothing of the nasty burglars, not
denying as the reward would be very handy to them that got it, to say
nothing of the honor and glory. We had promised her a liberal
perquisite in the event of our success, but she must not give other
cyclists our idea by mentioning it to a soul. It was about midnight
when we cycled through Kingston to Surbiton, having trundled our
machines across Ham Fields, mournful in the mist as those by Acheron,
and so over Teddington Bridge.

I often wonder why the pantry window is the vulnerable point of nine
houses out of ten. This house of ours was almost the tenth, for the
window in question had bars of sorts, but not the right sort. The
only bars that Raffles allowed to beat him were the kind that are let
into the stone outside; those fixed within are merely screwed to the
woodwork, and you can unscrew as many as necessary if you take the
trouble and have the time. Barred windows are usually devoid of other
fasteners worthy the name; this one was no exception to that foolish
rule, and a push with the pen-knife did its business. I am giving
householders some valuable hints, and perhaps deserving a good mark
from the critics. These, in any case, are the points that I would see
to, were I a rich stockbroker in a riverside suburb. In giving good
advice, however, I should not have omitted to say that we had left our
machines in the semi-circular shrubbery in front, or that Raffles had
most ingeniously fitted our lamps with dark slides, which enabled us
to leave them burning.

It proved sufficient to unscrew the bars at the bottom only, and then
to wrench them to either side. Neither of us had grown stout with
advancing years, and in a few minutes we both had wormed through into
the sink, and thence to the floor. It was not an absolutely noiseless
process, but once in the pantry we were mice, and no longer blind mice.
There was a gas-bracket, but we did not meddle with that. Raffles went