Little dreaming that two keen eyes were watching his every movement, Massey placed the cases in the safe, closed the door, scattered the combination, and left the room after switching off the lights. A few moments later the light in the entrance hall went out, then, one by one, the bedroom lights were extinguished, and the stately house wrapped itself in darkness and silence. Max had returned to his chosen hiding place in the bushes, and crouched down there. Now, turning his back to the house, he pressed the button of his flash light and turned the white rays on the face of his watch for a moment. “Twenty minutes to three,” he mused. “Perhaps, after all, they may be asleep by three o’clock. Anyhow, it’s Atherton’s risk, not mine. I think I’ll go and post myself where I can see them when they arrive.” He retraced his steps along the footpath, until he came to the door which opened into the lane. As already mentioned, there were many trees at that point, and one of them stood a couple of yards to the right of the door, and quite close to the wall. “What is the matter with taking a reserve seat up there,” Max muttered. “I shall then be able to see in the road without going outside the wall, and without being seen myself.” He climbed the tree, and flattened himself along one of the lower branches, from which point of vantage he could command a view not only of the road, but of the footpath through the trees. Ten minutes passed, then a faint, pulsating sound, like the purring of some gigantic cat fell on his ears. “Here they come!” he told himself. “They’ve evidently got a first-class silencer on their car, and ten to one they’re driving without lights.” CHAPTER VI. THE WAITER MEETS WITH A SURPRISE. Soon Max heard the approaching car turn out of the main road into the lane, and a moment or two later he could dimly see a bulky, shadowy object gliding up the latter. “Stop!” said a cautious voice, which the waiter instantly recognized as that of Alfred Atherton. “Here’s the door, I think. You can switch on the light for a moment now, for there’ll be nobody about at this hour of the morning.” The electric searchlights of the car flashed out, and by their dazzling illumination the waiter saw that the car was a big, open touring car, and contained five men. The front seat was occupied by the chauffeur--who was a stranger to Max--and Atherton. In the rear seat were three other men, all of whom, strangely enough, were known by sight and reputation to the man in the tree. One of them, of course, was Jack Frost, the well-groomed man about town, whom Max had seen at the Marmawell Club a few hours earlier. His presence in the machine was no surprise to the waiter, for he had expected to see him there, but, at the sight of the other two, Max had hard work to suppress an exclamation of incredulous amazement.