"That’s why I want to do something more than watch the lane. If the man I saw was Stoneway, we might catch him again, but give time for Obernai to clear away anything suspicious. It seems to me that what we have to do is to get into the house, and have a look at the back premises." "That means we should have to get in at the back secretly?" "Yes; if we went to the front openly we shouldn’t get farther than the lobby." "Suppose it turns out that we are quite wrong, wouldn’t it be rather a serious matter to break into a French house? Obernai is popular: it might not be easy to persuade the French authorities that we were not burglars." "Let’s chance that," said Ginger. "For any sake don’t let the police know beforehand, or the whole thing will be messed up like it was with that maire. Besides, if it comes to that, we’ve got the capting behind us." "I quite agree," said Kenneth. "We’ll risk it. Well now, judging by the length of the side garden wall, the house is about sixty yards from the lane. With these mysterious comings and goings the back gate will very likely be watched; at any rate there’ll be somebody about to let visitors in and out. I vote we get into the next garden, and clamber over the wall into Obernai’s. We shall have to wait until the people in the next house are asleep--say eleven o’clock to-night." About half-past ten, when the village was dark and silent, the three men left their billet and, to avoid detection, took a round-about route to the lane. The air was rather chill, and a light mist hung low over the ground. Each of the three carried a revolver, and they had agreed not to speak except in case of necessity, and then only in whispers. Creeping along softly under cover of the trees that lined one side of the lane, they passed Obernai’s door, and halted opposite the door of the next house, a few yards beyond. Here they waited, listening. All was silent. Then Kenneth tiptoed across the lane and quietly tried the door of Obernai’s garden. It was bolted. The next door opened to his touch. Joined by his companions, he entered and found himself in a garden much overgrown with weeds. They stole along by the side wall, and halted under it about fifty feet from the house. "Give me a leg-up," Kenneth whispered. In a few seconds he was down again. The top of the wall was spiked with glass. Stripping off his overcoat, he mounted again, laid the coat over the glass, and dropped lightly to the ground, after listening awhile to make sure that nobody was about. The others followed him in turn. The back of the house was quite dark. There was no sound within or without. Through the mist they could just distinguish the path leading to the back door. Kenneth crossed the grass to it, stole along, and cautiously turned the door handle. The door resisted his slight pressure: it was locked or bolted. He looked up the wall. The windows were out of reach. It seemed that the house could only be entered forcibly.