A moment later he had plunged into the depths of the wood.

"I am afraid that in no case will the next few days prove pleasant ones for the master of Wyvern Towers," murmured Drelincourt, as he stood where the other had left him. "Eh, bien! the first act of the drama is over; soon the curtain will rise on the second. I am as curious as if I were merely a looker on to know how the plot will develop itself, and to what extent it will involve F. D. Will it prove to be merely a nine days' wonder and there end? By this time next year it may be merely an old wife's tale, to tell o' nights by the chimney corner. Or the dénouement may be something altogether different; a tolling bell, a crossbeam, and a dangling rope. Those who live will see."

He turned and began to pace the glade slowly, his hands crossed behind his back. As he walked, his lips moved.

"Oh Madeline, Madeline, could I but bring back the hour I met you here, when, soft and low, with many a blush, you told me that you loved me! If I could but wake up and find the time between then and now nothing more than a hideous nightmare fancy of my own! In vain! It is no wild imagining of a disordered brain, but a baleful reality, with far reaching consequences which no human eye can foresee. But here comes Rodd, red faced and out of breath. What a pity it is--and how futile--to take things so seriously as he does."

"It was Dixon, as I thought," exclaimed the other as he came up. "Much has happened since I left the Towers. It has been discovered that Mrs. Drelincourt's jewel case has been rifled, and, by Mr. Ormsby's orders, Gumley has been arrested on suspicion of being both the thief and--and----"

"The murderer. Why fight shy of the word, my dear Rodd? 'Tis always best to call things by their right names. But who is this Gumley that you speak of?"

"An ill conditioned, saucy sort of fellow who was taken on about a fortnight ago to help in the gardens. He and Mrs. Drelincourt had some words the other day, when she lashed him across the face with her riding whip."

"Just the sort of thing Kate would do. But this rifling of the jewel case--and last night, too! The coincidence, if one may call it such, is somewhat remarkable."

"Had we not better get back to the Towers with as little delay as possible?"

"Under the circumstances, it may perhaps be as well to do so. And so this fellow--this Gumley--has 

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