“I tell you, Trackem, I have seen them all three, and I greatly fear that Mrs. de Lara recognised me. Maybe she did not, for the moment she looked round I made off as hard as I could, and have ridden straight from the spot to this place. But if she did, there will be great danger of our plot being discovered, and the idea to me is simply maddening after all I have done, and risked, and put up with to carry it successfully to an issue.” Mr. Trackem refuses, however, to get excited. “Pray listen, my lord,” he says suavely. “I think it is extremely unlikely that Mrs. de Lara recognised you. But even if she did, of what avail? She cannot prove it, and her statement would only be regarded in the light of falsehood, invented to screen Gloria de Lara, or else in the light of hallucination. We managed that point very well at the trial. No, no; have no fear on that score. The only point to be looked at is this. If Mrs. de Lara recognised you, or even took alarm at seeing a stranger in her child’s place of refuge, she, and those with her, have in all probability sought a fresh hiding-place. If this be so, their arrest will have to be postponed, until we can lay hands on the spot of their new asylum. It is a pity, for my efforts appeared to be on the verge of crowning success. However, cheer up, my lord. Trackem has never yet failed in any of his jobs, and will not in this one.” “I was a fool to act as I did!” exclaims Lord Westray, for it is no other than he; “but I could not resist the impulse, Trackem. How do you propose to act if to-morrow we find the birds have flown?” “I propose this, my lord,” answers Mr. Trackem in a decided voice. “I intend to send round information to Scotland Yard of their whereabouts. Should this information prove too late, I propose to proceed in this wise. I have in my employ a young woman of extremely prepossessing appearance, and without doubt the cutest of all my staff. She has never failed me yet, and I am not apprehensive that she will on this occasion. My instructions to her will be to ascertain Gloria de Lara’s whereabouts, to join her in this rebellion—to be, in fact, one of her most devoted adherents, until such time as I shall require her to be otherwise. When she has been thoroughly entrusted with the rebel secrets, nothing will be easier than to transmit them to us; in fact, I think you know what I mean, my lord.” “I understand,” mutters the other moodily. “You mean to set her to the informer’s trade. A female Judas, in fact.” “You have it, my lord, extremely well expressed. Ha, ha!” laughs Mr. Trackem quietly, as he rubs his hands together, and nods approvingly. “And what does your lordship think of my little plan?” he continues inquiringly.