“Mary,” she said to me, speaking very quickly, for already we could hear two men’s footsteps approaching the library door, “you must station yourself just outside the front door; you understand? If you see or hear anything suspicious come and warn me at once.” I made ready to obey, and the next moment the door opened and Mr. Philip Baddock entered, accompanied by Captain Hubert. I smothered the involuntary sob which rose to my throat at sight of the man who had once been the most gallant, the handsomest soldier I had ever seen. I had only just time to notice that Mr. Baddock prepared to leave the room again immediately. At the door he turned back and said to Lady Molly: “Felkin has gone down to the lodge. If he hears or sees anything that seems suspicious he will ring up on the telephone;” and he pointed to the apparatus which stood on the library table in the centre of the room. After that he closed the door, and I was left to imagine the moments of joy, mingled with acute anguish, which my dear lady would be living through. I walked up and down restlessly on the terrace which fronts the Castle. The house itself appeared silent and dark: I presume all the servants had gone to bed. Far away on my right I caught the glimmer of a light. It came from the lodge where Felkin was watching. From the church in Appledore village came the sound of the clock striking the hour of midnight. How long I had been on the watch I cannot say, when suddenly I was aware of a man’s figure running rapidly along the drive towards the house. The next moment the figure had skirted the Castle, apparently making for one of the back doors. I did not hesitate a moment. Having left the big front door on the latch, I ran straight in and made for the library door. Already Mr. Philip Baddock had forestalled me. His hand was on the latch. Without more ado he pushed open the door and I followed him in. Lady Molly was sitting on the sofa, with Captain Hubert beside her. They both rose at our entrance. “The police!” said Mr. Baddock, speaking very rapidly. “Felkin has just run up from the lodge. He is getting the car ready. Pray God we may yet be able to get away.” Even as he spoke the front door bell sounded with a loud clang, which to me had the sound of a death knell. “It is too late, you see,” said my dear lady, quietly. “No, not too late,” ejaculated Philip Baddock, in a rapid whisper. “Quick! De Mazareen, follow me through the hall. Felkin is at the stables getting the car ready. It will be some time before the servants are roused.” “Mary, I am sure, has failed to fasten the front door,” interrupted Lady Molly, with the same strange calm. “I think the police are already in the hall.” There was no mistaking the muffled sound of feet treading the thick Turkey carpet in the hall. The library had but one exit. Captain Hubert was literally in a trap. But Mr. Baddock had not lost his presence of mind.