“We had been very quiet for a day or two, just to let suspicion die away. Then we set out one dark night, Jim and I, and got over the avenue railings and up to the house without meeting a soul. It was blowing hard, I remember, and the clouds were hurrying across the sky. We had a good look at the front of the house; and then Jim went round to the garden side. He came running back in a minute or two in a great state of delight. ‘Why, Bill,’ he said, gripping me by the arm, ‘there never was such a bit of luck! They’ve been repairing the roof or something, and they’ve left the ladder standing.’ We went round together, and there, sure enough, was the ladder towering above our heads, and one or two laborers’ hods lying about, which showed that some work had been going on during the day. We had a good look round, to see that everything was quiet, and then we climbed up, Jim first and I after him. We got to the top, and were sitting on the slates, having a bit of a breather before beginning business, when you can fancy our feelings to see the ladder that we came up by suddenly stand straight up in the air, and then slowly descend until it rested in the garden below. At first we hoped it might have slipped, though that was bad enough; but we soon had that idea put out of our heads. “‘Hullo, up there!’ cried a voice from below. “We craned our heads over the edge, and there was a man, dressed, as far as we could make out, in evening dress, and standing in the middle of the grass plot. We kept quiet. “‘Hullo!’ he shouted again. ‘How do you feel yourself? Pretty comfortable, eh? Ha! ha! You London rogues thought we were green in the country. What’s your opinion now?’ “We both lay still, though feeling pretty considerably small, as you may imagine. “‘It’s all right; I see you.’ he continued. “‘Why, I have been waiting behind that lilac bush every night for the last week, expecting to see you. I knew you couldn’t resist going up that ladder, when you found the windows were too much for you.—Joe! Joe!’ “‘Yes, sir,’ said a voice, and another man came from among the bushes. “‘Just you keep your eye on the roof, will you, while I ride down to the station and fetch up a couple of constables?—_Au revoir_, gentlemen! You don’t mind waiting, I suppose?’ And Colonel Morley—for it was the owner of the house himself—strode off; and in a few minutes we heard the rattle of his horse’s hoofs going down the avenue.