"No, I suppose not," said Mr. Braithwait, smiling. "Yet I am rather pleased that I did come, since I always enjoy an unusual experience." "Glad you enjoy it," muttered Baxter; but no one listened to him. "I was aroused by the reflection of the gaslight in the upper hall," explained Mr. Braithwait, "and I supposed that the housekeeper had left it burning--she has done so more than once. I came down to extinguish it. I heard voices in this room, and I entered." "At the risk of your life," observed Graham, with a significant glance at Baxter, who had resumed eating. "I did not think of that," said Mr. Braithwait, simply. "My life has been threatened so often--you know I am a railroad man--that I give little thought to the risk of an undertaking. Professionals, I suppose?" He looked at Montgomery, who nodded nonchalantly and lighted a cigarette. Mr. Braithwait coughed. "I wish you wouldn't," he said, deprecatingly. "Apart from the looks, I can't bear cigarette-smoke. There's a box of very fine Conchas on the sideboard. Thank you"--to Graham--"if you will join me?--thank you again." Graham laughed with genuine enjoyment, yet without vulgarity. "I like you," he said, frankly, "and I am sorry that, in the line of business----" He waved his cigar at the bag. [Illustration: "EXCELLENT CLARET," SAID HARRY.] "Of course, yes, of course, I know that can't be helped," said Mr. Braithwait, smoking away easily, "and that's another reason why I'm glad I came. I suppose you have in that bag some trinkets belonging to my wife and daughters that have a special value as mementos. I hear that you gentlemen are frequently forced to sell your plunder at a simply ruinous sacrifice, and it occurred to me that if we could come to some arrangement--you understand?" "Perfectly," answered Graham. "It can be done, and I will open negotiations at an early date. Provided, of course," he added, severely, "that you play fair." "That is understood. As a business man I accept the situation. My loss is your gain." At this the youngest burglar broke silence for the first time. "You are a philosopher," he said, in a tone of admiration. "What sensible man is not?" responded Mr. Braithwait, cheerfully. "I suppose it is capable of proof that the accumulated wisdom of the ancients amounts simply to the homely proverb: 'What can't be cured must be endured.' My business is a sort of war, and I have my defeats as well as my victories. I must bear them both with equanimity." "So is ours," said the youngest burglar. "As Horace says in his 'Epistles': 'Cædimur, et totidem plagis consumimus hostem.'" "Permit me," returned Mr. Braithwait, "to reply with Catullus: 'Nil mihi tam valde placeat, Rhamnusia virgo, quod temere invitis suscipiatur heris.'" Montgomery flushed slightly, and Baxter growled an incoherent protest against the use of foreign languages.