‘I think they will be glad to sit still for a little while after their romp, and I’ve no doubt they’ll laugh at the “Jackdaw.” It’s very good of you to come.’ ‘Is it? If you knew how I detest infant school children you might say so, but if you knew how I----’ He left the sentence unfinished. ‘How is Treverton?’ he asked. ‘Much better. Mr. Morton says he will be well in a day or two.’ ‘I passed a curious-looking fellow in the road just outside your gates, a regular London Bohemian; a man whose very walk recalled the most disreputable quarters of that extraordinary city. I have no idea who the fellow is; but I’ll swear he’s a Londoner, a swindler, and an adventurer; and I have a lurking idea that I have seen him before.’ ‘Indeed! Was it that which attracted your notice?’ ‘No, it was the man’s style and manner altogether. He was loitering near the gate, as if with some intention; possibly not the most honourable. You’ve heard perhaps of a kind of robbery known as the portico dodge?’ ‘No. I am not learned in such distinctions.’ ‘It is a common crime now-a-days. A country house with a portico is a fine field for the display of genius in burglary. One of the gang scales the portico after dusk, most likely at the family dinner-hour, gets from the roof of the portico through a convenient window, and then quietly admits his accomplices. In all such robberies there is generally one member of the gang, the cleverest and best educated, who has no active part in the crime. He does all the intellectual work, schemes and directs the whole business; but though the police know him and would give their eyes to catch him tripping, he never tumbles into their trap. The fellow I saw at your gates to-night seemed to me just this sort of man.’ Laura looked very serious, as if she were alarmed at the idea of robbery. ‘Was this man young or old?’ she asked thoughtfully. ‘Neither. He is middle-aged, perhaps even elderly, but certainly not old. He is as straight as a dart, spare but broad-shouldered, and with something of a military air.’ ‘What made you fancy he had some evil design upon this house?’ asked Laura, her face clouded with anxious thought. ‘I did not like the way in which he loitered by the gate. He seemed to be looking for some one or something, watching his opportunity. I don’t want to scare you, Laura. I only want to put you on your guard, so that you may have all the doors and shutters looked after with extra care to-night. After all, the man may be perfectly harmless--some seedy acquaintance of your husband, perhaps. A man cannot live in the world of London without that kind of burr sticking to his coat.’ ‘You do not flatter my husband by such a supposition,’ said Laura, with an offended look.