"I am sorry to see men of your social position in the dock before me, but you have only yourselves to thank for it. Your counsel has spoken of your laudable and original effort to add to the gaiety of the nation. People's idea of humour varies, and, personally, I see nothing very funny in what you have done. I certainly think that your efforts might have been more worthily engaged. Some of you are members of the Houses of Parliament, and I really do not know how you reconcile this club with your position as the law-makers of the land; but of course it may be that this is part of the humour to which your counsel referred. With regard to the legal aspect of the matter, it is clear that no criminal offence has been committed, though if Lord Lothersdale desires, you may have to answer elsewhere a claim for damages. You are discharged." It was in vain that the ushers tried to stop the cheers that went up as the magistrate concluded, and as the doors of the dock opened and the prisoners came forth. But one little man crept away from the well of the court, unnoticed and unrejoicing. Two days later a special meeting of the Club was held, at which it was proposed by Colonel Altamont and seconded by the President:-- "That, as according to the decision of the Marlborough Street Police Court magistrate, the proceedings of the Burglars' Club are neither criminal nor humorous, and its members run no danger of suffering personal inconvenience, it is hereby resolved that the Club has no connection with Sport, and therefore no reason for existence, and that it be disbanded forthwith." A fortnight later the disbanding of the Club was celebrated by a dinner, the guest of the evening being Mr. Marvell. After dessert the detective was presented with the minute-book of the Club, which had been kept in cipher by the Hon. Sec., who alone had the key to it. The ex-President, in making the presentation, expressed the hope that Mr. Marvell would spend many happy and profitable years in endeavouring to decipher it. Mr. Marvell, in reply, thanked the company for their kind reception of him, and for the gift, which he would treasure. He would certainly follow his Grace's suggestion and endeavour to decipher the minutes, and he still hoped that with this additional evidence and a more intimate acquaintance with the "Commentaries" of Mr. Stephen, he would before long be enabled to return their hospitality at His Majesty's expense. Mr. Marvell's speech was received with acclamation; but his hopes have not been realised. This is the last chronicle of the Burglars' Club. PRINTED BY CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD., LA BELLE SAUVAGE, E.C. 10.500 * * * * * Transcriber's Note: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Page 87, the first word was placed in small capitals in the HTML version and all capitals in the text version to conform to the rest of the book. Page 207, "Adolf" changed to "Adolph" (MR. ADOLPH MEYER, the friend)