his pockets.

But Father's latchkey was in the door, and it was too late.

Father came in quickly, purring with the cold, and began to say, 'It's
all right, Foulkes, I've got--' And then he stopped short and stared
at us. Then he said, in the voice we all hate, 'Children, what is the
meaning of all this?' And for a minute nobody spoke.

Then my Father said, 'Foulkes, I must really apologize for these very
naughty--' And then our robber rubbed his hands and laughed, and cried
out:

'You're mistaken, my dear sir, I'm not Foulkes; I'm a robber, captured
by these young people in the most gallant manner. "Hands up, surrender,
or I fire," and all the rest of it. My word, Bastable, but you've got
some kids worth having! I wish my Denny had their pluck.'

Then we began to understand, and it was like being knocked down, it was
so sudden. And our robber told us he wasn't a robber after all. He was
only an old college friend of my Father's, and he had come after dinner,
when Father was just trying to mend the lock H. O. had broken, to ask
Father to get him a letter to a doctor about his little boy Denny, who
was ill. And Father had gone over the Heath to Vanbrugh Park to see some
rich people he knows and get the letter. And he had left Mr Foulkes to
wait till he came back, because it was important to know at once whether
Father could get the letter, and if he couldn't Mr Foulkes would have
had to try some one else directly.

We were dumb with amazement.

Our robber told my Father about the other burglar, and said he was
sorry he'd let him escape, but my Father said, 'Oh, it's all right: poor
beggar; if he really had kids at home: you never can tell--forgive us
our debts, don't you know; but tell me about the first business. It must
have been moderately entertaining.'

Then our robber told my Father how I had rushed into the room with a
pistol, crying out... but you know all about that. And he laid it on
so thick and fat about plucky young-uns, and chips of old blocks, and
things like that, that I felt I was purple with shame, even under the
blanket. So I swallowed that thing that tries to prevent you speaking
when you ought to, and I said, 'Look here, Father, I didn't really think
there was any one in the study. We thought it was a cat at first, and
then I thought there was no one there, and I was just larking. And when
I said surrender and all that, it was just the game, don't you know?'

Then our robber said, 'Yes, ol