mart as cockatoos. But it was no go. The Lord Mayor hadn't a
stiver in his pockets. One of the footmen had six new pennies: the Lord
Mayor always pays his servants' wages in new pennies. I spent fourpence
of that in bread and cheese, that on the table's the tuppence. Ah, it's
a poor trade!' And then he filled his pipe again.

We had turned out the gas, so that Father should have a jolly good
surprise when he did come home, and we sat and talked as pleasant as
could be. I never liked a new man better than I liked that robber. And I
felt so sorry for him. He told us he had been a war-correspondent and
an editor, in happier days, as well as a horse-stealer and a colonel of
dragoons.

And quite suddenly, just as we were telling him about Lord Tottenham and
our being highwaymen ourselves, he put up his hand and said 'Shish!' and
we were quiet and listened.

There was a scrape, scrape, scraping noise; it came from downstairs.

'They're filing something,' whispered the robber, 'here--shut up, give
me that pistol, and the poker. There is a burglar now, and no mistake.'

'It's only a toy one and it won't go off,' I said, 'but you can cock
it.'

Then we heard a snap. 'There goes the window bar,' said the robber
softly. 'Jove! what an adventure! You kids stay here, I'll tackle it.'

But Dicky and I said we should come. So he let us go as far as the
bottom of the kitchen stairs, and we took the tongs and shovel with us.
There was a light in the kitchen; a very little light. It is curious we
never thought, any of us, that this might be a plant of our robber's to
get away. We never thought of doubting his word of honour. And we were
right.

That noble robber dashed the kitchen door open, and rushed in with the
big toy pistol in one hand and the poker in the other, shouting out just
like Oswald had done--

'Surrender! You are discovered! Surrender, or I'll fire! Throw up your
hands!' And Dicky and I rattled the tongs and shovel so that he might
know there were more of us, all bristling with weapons.

And we heard a husky voice in the kitchen saying--

'All right, governor! Stow that scent sprinkler. I'll give in. Blowed if
I ain't pretty well sick of the job, anyway.'

Then we went in. Our robber was standing in the grandest manner with his
legs very wide apart, and the pistol pointing at the cowering burglar.
The burglar was a large man who did not mean to have a beard, I think,
but he had got some of one, and a red com