"Well," continued Mr. Welwyn diffidently, "it has occurred to me that when you have ushered the party into the hall, you might call down the staircase into the basement, distinctly but not ostentatiously, to some one--James, or Thomas--you can address him by any name you please--that there is no need to come up. You see the idea?" "Dad," declared Percy, shaking his parent affectionately by the hand, "you are a marvel! Why, ’Melia, what’s the trouble?" Amelia, wide-eyed and frightened, was standing in the doorway. CHAPTER XVIII DE L’AUDACE, ET ENCORE DE L’AUDACE, ET TOUJOURS DE L’AUDACE! "Daddy," announced Amelia in a stage whisper, "there’s a man downstairs." "What sort of man?" enquired Mr. Welwyn, rising from his seat and edging carelessly in the direction of his bedroom door. "A rough-looking man." "Tell him," said Mr. Welwyn with his hand on the door-handle, "that I am not at home. Percy! Quick! Keep that fellow out!" But it was too late. A stranger stood in the midst of the House of Welwyn. He was an elderly, undersized, seedy-looking individual, with a blue chin, a red nose, and a faded theatrical manner. In his hand he held a blue-grey slip of paper. He smiled amiably upon the shrinking figure of the master of the house. "Don’t trouble to exit on my account, sir," he remarked wheezily. "Who are you?" stammered Mr. Welwyn. "What is the meaning of this intrusion?" "Name of Welwyn?" enquired the stranger briskly. "Yes." "Loosius?" "Yes." "Then," announced the stranger, proffering the blue paper, "I must arsk you for your hospitality for a short time--a mere matter o’ _form_, of course--until this small account is settled. It’s Gandy and Cox," he continued chattily: "seventeen-seventeen-six; and I ’m put in possession until it’s settled. In other words, ’ere I am, and ’ere I stays until I gets what I came for." Depositing his frayed headgear upon the piano, the emissary of Gandy and Cox was upon the point of selecting a chair, when he became conscious of a sudden pressure upon the nape of his neck. "Outside!" intimated Percy’s voice. "Pardon me," replied the visitor without moving, "but you touch me at your own risk. I’m put in by the law." There was a stifled cry from Mrs. Welwyn and the girls. "The warrant was signed and ’anded to me this morning," continued the representative of Justice, "at ten-thirty exact. It is now in the ’ands of your Pa, young ladies--" "Law be damned! Out you go!" shouted Percy, whirling the speaker round towards the door.