He went up to his room in dudgeon, and for the next few days Mr. Teak saw but little of him. To, lure Mrs. Teak out was almost as difficult as to persuade a snail to leave its shell, but he succeeded on two or three occasions, and each time she added something to her wardrobe. The assistant fortune-hunter had been in residence just a month when Mr. Teak, returning home one afternoon, stood in the small passage listening to a suppressed wailing noise proceeding from upstairs. It was so creepy that half-way up he hesitated, and, in a stern but trembling voice, demanded to know what his wife meant by it. A louder wail than before was the only reply, and, summoning up his courage, he pushed open the door of the bedroom and peeped in. His gaze fell on Mrs. Teak, who was sitting on the hearth-rug, rocking to and fro in front of a dismantled fire-place. "What--what's the matter?" he said, hastily. Mrs. Teak raised her voice to a pitch that set his teeth on edge. "My money!" she wailed. "It's all gone! All gone!" "Money?" repeated Mr. Teak, hardly able to contain himself. "What money?" "All--all my savings!" moaned his wife. "Savings!" said the delighted Mr. Teak. "What savings?" "Money I have been putting by for our old age," said his wife. "Three hundred and twenty-two pounds. All gone!" In a fit of sudden generosity Mr. Teak decided then and there that Mr. Chase should have the odd twenty-two pounds. "You're dreaming!" he said, sternly. "I wish I was," said his wife, wiping her eyes. "Three hundred and twenty-two pounds in empty mustard-tins. Every ha'penny's gone!" Mr. Teak's eye fell on the stove. He stepped for ward and examined it. The back was out, and Mrs. Teak, calling his attention to a tunnel at the side, implored him to put his arm in and satisfy himself that it was empty. "But where could you get all that money from?" he demanded, after a prolonged groping. "Sa--sa--saved it," sobbed his wife, "for our old age." "Our old age?" repeated Mr. Teak, in lofty tones. "And suppose I had died first? Or suppose you had died sudden? This is what comes of deceitfulness and keeping things from your husband. Now somebody has stole it." Mrs. Teak bent her head and sobbed again. "I--I had just been out for --for an hour," she gasped. "When I came back I fou--fou--found the washhouse window smashed, and--" Sobs choked her utterance. Mr. Teak, lost in admiration of Mr. Chase's cleverness, stood regarding her in silence. "What--what about the police?" said his wife at last. "Police!" repeated Mr. Teak, with extraordinary vehemence. "Police! Certainly not. D'ye think I'm going to let it be known all round that I'm the husband of a miser? I'd sooner lose ten times the money."